amandaRN

Mixing up the routine always helps me blow through a stall. I tweak my carbs, protein and exercise and it has helped each time so far. You are doing very well, so don't get discouraged and good luck!

Yes, Miralax works GI miracles...lol.

I can honestly say I think my life has finally adapted to having a sleeved stomach. My food anguish is gone; my depression is resolved; I have embraced the freedom I have to know that I can eat whatever I want because I can't eat enough to "blow" my diet. The funny thing is, I don't WANT to eat all the junk that was my primary diet prior to the surgery and that is amazing. As a matter of fact, life has become so normal I am once again busy busy busy. Struggling to get all my structured exercise in because I am so busy. I am 8 almost 9 weeks out now and feel like things get better everyday. Now, I find myself eager to look at pictures of myself because I can finally see the difference. My hubby and I booked our Cozumel trip yesterday and I had a passport photo done and loved it!!! We are going the 2nd weekend in December and I hope I can lose 20 more pounds before then. I have lost 38.8 pounds so far and have been losing an average of 3-4 pounds a week, so hopefully that will continue just long eneough I can be comfortable in a bathing suit instead of ridculously large! I also have a family golf tournament coming up the 23rd of this month, and it is so nice to play unencumbered by my large chest and abdomen. I ahve a lot of practicing to do to make up for not playing this summer because of the heat, my weight, and then surgery recovery; but I am still very excited about how much more fun just playing is now. IF I COULD JUST GET OVER THIS SUMMER COLD NOW!!!

Thanks for the feedback. if I make the investment I will post an update.

<BR><BR><BR>No, fortunately I did not have sleep apnea. I hope the surgery helps and I'm sure it will! Good luck!

You are weighing too often!!! Put your scale in an inaccessible place and weigh once a week. Period. At least until you break through your plateau. Plateaus are NORMAL for everyone, even us VSGers. Try playing with your diet and caloric/protein intake and increase or change your exercise routine and taht will ususally reset your metabolism and get your scale moving again. But DO"T get discourgaed. 88 pounds in 5 months is HUGE and something to be VERY proud of!! I, too, have had severe issues with constipation. As the commet above pointed out, MIRALAX is your friend!!! It has worked miracles for me...miracles. I use one capful daily in one of my beverages. Let it sit for about 10 minutes before your drink it afteryou stir it in, an you would never know it was in the drink. My surgeon reccommended it as safe for daily use. My youngest daughter also happens to have renal issues and her nephrologost and urologist both have her taking Miralax daily as well. You buy it over the counter anywhere, and the generic works just as well for us. I would start out using 2 capfuls a day until things get moving so to speak and then maintenance dose of 1 cap daily should suffice.

Don't have a whole lot to say today,just thought I really needed to update my journaling. I will say me perspective has gorwn more positive by leaps and bounds in the last week or so. I am loving my VSG...LOVING IT!!!!! YAY!!!!!! I have rediscovered my joy in exercise and what it does for my sleep and mood patterns. I have also recommitted myself to eating better. I am doing a 2 week low carb induction diet because I didn't stay low carb after my srugery--mysurgeon's advice--ao I had to go through 2 days of starch withdrawl again with headaches and lack of energy, but all is well now AND it doesn't even BOTHER me that I am limiting starches, thanks to my sleeve. I even ate at Red Lobster and passed up the cheddar bay biscuits...wow. And boy is my scale moving again. Have lost 8 pounds in 2 weeks...CRAZY!!! But I am loving that too! This is morbid, but I have found that I like watching other people eat large quantities of food---and think OMG, I am so glad I have a sleeve and can't do that anymore!!! I don't say it, of course, but I think it and it reinforces my decision to have taken this drastic measure. Never in a million yers would I have been able to make it on so little food without tis surgery and now that I can, I think it has saved my life!!!!

My desire for food did not go away like it does for some. My physical hunger went away. I am 6 weeks out and only just startting to feel physical hunger pangs. I had very strong emotional longings for food. I kepttorturing mysel thinking when I gwt off of my liquids, THAT will be the first thing I eat... Some people on here refer to it as mental food anguish and that sounds exactly right. I never realized how much I used food as an emotional bandaid-for stress mostly-until I no longer needed it or could even have it physically. I even went through a pretty bad spell of depression and sadness and regret for about 4 weeks afterward. Being well enough to exercise more vigorously has improved my depression. Exercise and sunshine are natural serotonin stimulants, BTW, if you experience this mood issue. I was even prepared, for this by my surgeon. He gave me a book to read preop about the psychological aspect of my surgery and weight loss, but still I thought I would be immune to the anguish. Once I made up my mind that I had to "get over" food or grieve the loss of food as a pick me up, start exercising like I meant it, and getting back into the mentality that my sleeve is another dieter's tool, not a quick fix, things started getting better. I guess I thought I would be lucky enough it wouldn't bother me once my stomach was reduced, but I was wrong. I suppose it depends on what role food played in your life prior to your surgery and for me, it was huge. I will say, I am 6 weeks out now and getting better and fitter everyday. I am so hapy and excited I had this done, becuase even though I couldn't give up my "dieting" mentality, it is SOOOO much easier to diet. It feels like I am changing my life for good----AND I AM!!!!! Good luck to you as well.

I am feeling better lately, not do depressed and eager to get my exercise in when I can. My hubby surprised me aby telling me he and I are going to Cozumel...alone...no kids...in January. That said, I am feeling even more encouraged to use my sleeve to the best advantage to get this weight off as fast as I can and to get in shape. It makes me excited to see him excited about the outcome. Hopefully I will have lost another 30 pounds by January. That's my goal anyway. I would be about 200 pounds and likely a size 12; it will be much easier hitting the beaches at a size 12 than 22! I am just a little unsure how to proceed with my diet. I don't know if I should do a hard core low carb or maybe like a south beach version or just focus on getting my protein and portion control with everything else. Having my sleeve in place makes me feel like th options are endless and I don't really know what to do. I am thinking for now I will focus ongetting healthy low carb sources of protein in and try to eat as wholistically and nutritiously as I can. I was eating my lime Greek yogurt this morning thinking it was good because it had 14 grams of protein and then I realized it had 20 grams of sugar! I am having 1 corn tortilla with a slice of low fat cheese melted in it for lunch most days with a few grapes or berries but I don't know if I am amping my carbs up too much. AAAAH. I feel so confused. I am only losing 1-2 pounds a week and I feel like it should be more but isn't because I don't have the diet thing figured out. I have always had "a plan" for weight loss before and now I feel like I don't...lol...even though I know my sleeve is "the plan" this time. I think I am just beginning to recognize that there is a substantial amount of work involved still and that the surgery in and of itself will not generate all the weight loss I want. At least I am feeling good enough to exercise again!

My energy levels are low too. i think it is related to our bodies running on SOOO fewer calories...or at least part of it. they are gradually picking back up, especially with more exercise...go figure. I still have a hard time getting and staying hydrated but getting better all the time. My scale tells me percent hydration and I get just as excited with increases here as I do decreases in weight...lol. Thanks for the encouragement and the tips and good luck to you!

I am 5 weeks out from my surgery tomorrow. It really has been a challenging but rewarding experience and I do not regret having the surgery. I am finally eating pretty normally for a sleever and that has led to immense satisfaction compared to the liquids. I have been struggling with depression though. I understand this is pretty normal. Any other time I would have been thrilled with a 27 pound loss in a month; I find my enthusiasm over my accomplishment lukewarm at best. I think it is all related to losing food as an emotional bandaid. I knew this COULD happen but never thought it WOULD happen to me. I am getting better every day though. I have found exercise is helping and I know with time my mental dependency on food to release the feel good juice in my body will go away; I look forward to the day when food is merely fuel in my eyes. I am happy that I am at the point where people can really tell I am losing and pretty fast. My MIL saw me for the first time since day 7 postop yesterday and she was pleasantly surprised. It felt good to hear praise like that. It also feels good to be wearing clothes that have been too small for months. The only thing I feel like I haven't really figured out is issues with consitpation. Was taking MOM every other day but my surgeon wanted me to switch to Benefiber. I have but nothing is happening. Guess I will try Miralax daily maybe. I don't know yet. Overall, this has been a good thing in my life and it gets better all the time. I am so glad that if I decide to have a pity party cookie I can eat 1 or 2 and be done rather than blow a weeks worth of exercise with a whole package of oreos!

I have to use a gummi prentatal multivitamin and I suck on a sublingual b12 2500 mcg every other day. Don't need additional Iron yet. I drink tons of milk so my doc said not to worry about Calcium supp now if they make me sick. I try to get all my Protein and Fluid in evryday and I sure feel better when I do. Hope you get to feeling better soon!

I have always wondered about this piece of equipment...if it is wortht the cost and storage demands and how well it works for weight loss. I live within a few miles from a gym I get to use for FREE but I feel like I would use something at home more than actually having to parade myself in front of other fit people to get exercise. Was wondering if there are any who own it and how satisfied with the treadclimber they are????

I feel like all I did was eat today. Maybe it is because I just got to start eating, IDK. Or maybe because it is time for my monthly junk binge...lol. Had a little chicken for first meal, had a little hamburger with tomatos and beans dish second meal, had a taco for third meal, THEN I had the topping off of one piece of my kids personal pan size pizza when I got home from work...AAAAH! I think this is too much food for a typical day for me, but I don't really know. The volume would make up probably half of one meal pre surgery, but I know the pizza topping and taco was probably empty calories. I hoped the junk food cravings would go away after surgery, but alas they have not. I did have a protein shake before i did any eating today too. I feel TERRIBLE about what I have, but what is done is done and I think writing it down and learning from it is the best thing for me right now. I hope I am not the only one struggling with cravings. I need to figure out what triggered today's indulgence I guess. I think PMS is a big culprit because I crave greasy salty during this time. I just have to try harder tomorrow! One day at a time I guess! I am thankful for the sleeve in that it really put the brakes on my eating BIG TIME. I haven't added back much produce yet and I think it is time to do so. I didn't realize meal planning would be just as vital after surgery as it was before and I didn't realize that the mental battle would be the biggest by far.

I lost 10 pounds or so the first week and by week 2 i had lost 20 pounds. Then I plateaued a whole week and lost nada about week 3 which I hear is common and got VERY frustrated because i also FELT WORSE the third week than any other week, but I have since lost 5 more pounds and tomorrow is 4 week anniversary. My nurse educator told me to expect to loose 15-20 pounds fast and easy and NOT to expect it to continue that the first 20 is Water weight and a healthy sustainable weight loss after is 1-2 pounds week if I get my Protein in like I should. Once in awhile I will lose more, but not to try too. My surgen said if you lose too much to fast with bad nutrition or just have bad nutrition in general theskin and hair issues will start. My hair has not started thinning yet and try very hard to get all my protein in first via supplements and any protein after that comes from my food, and is usually minimal because I still can barely eat 1/4 cup at a time. 1 egg tops me off very well. Good luck and try not to get too obsessed with the numbers!

I also love bike riding. I rode a bike at my heaviest weight (at 297 pounds) when I was doing m medically suprvised weight loss. I lost 115 pounds in a year and bike riding was a key exercise. My doc reccomended walking and biking when I first started because it was easy on the joints and great cardio. I started out with a geared bike gave big $$$ for it but didn't like it. Ultimately, my favorite bike for everyday fun exercise was a Schwinn cruiser model with a wide seat wide handle bars and a cute basket on the back to carry my water, bag, etc. I loved riding to the park with my girls and sitting in the shade with a good book while they played if I needed a break. Once I lost more weight and felt spunkier this led to me joining a spinning class...talk about a workout, whooooo...and it was a blast. I would ride my bike to the gymn and back for warm-up/cool down. Alas, I gained 75 pounds back and thus I am here today post sleeve x 4 weeks and just starting back on my trusty schwinn and once again I LOVE IT! I like it alot better than walking and my kids can match my pace alot better biking than walking so it becomes fun for all of us. My hubby even bought a swhinn bike and will ride with us and he loathes organized exercise. SOOO, if you are even thinking about i say GO FOR IT!!!!! You wont regret it!!!!:teeth_smile:

I went shopping with my hubby yesterday. We walked a lot, which was good and I am getting back to my old stamina now that my nausea and pain are under conrol. The thing that suprosed me most was how much I DIDN"T enjoy it. Guess why??? Because the excursion wasnt themed around what we were going to eat! My husband was thrilled by this- that everything we do isn't food centered in my mind, but I had a hard time reconciling this in my mind. I felt sad and resentful most of the day. I guess that is what they mean by grieving the loss of food...I do remind myself that this is a good outcome and what I have been longing for to keep myslef in check since I obviously could not do it beforehand, but it has opened my eyes to just how much food had become a crutch in my lifestyle. And maybe I have some emotional baggage that food has helped me avoid. The good news is maybe this bodes well for the checkbook since shopping has now lost some of it's appeal...lol. In the meantime, I need to try to move on past my depression over food deprivation and teach myself that ENJOYMENT in what I eat is not associated with VOLUME. My Weight Chart: >

Thank youfor cheering me up! AND GOOD LUCK TO YOU TOO!

I went back to work...again...yesterday although I am on light duty. That means I am neck deep in...care plans...oh joy. But it is GREAT to feel like I am getting back to normal instead of further away from normal. I was right I think last entry to feel like the worst is behind me. Saw my surgeon and there were no leaks-hallelujah! He feels lilke I pulled on the sstiches in my hiatal hernia repair and got my diaphragm all irritated and swollen again, hence the pain in my side and left shoulder and nausea and hiccups and trouble swallowin. Said symptoms are getting better everyday however-can I getta AMEN!!!! I am eating mashed potatoes now which has done wonders for my constitution...lol. Can't tolerate oatmeal but I can also eat yogurt, frozen yogurt, found a tolerable 42 gm protein shot that has helped me out a lot. I amsuppoed to stay on full liquids for another 2 weeks and then bam it's okay to have chopped foods. I am leary of that so I think I might start trying to puree some things to kind of transition. I am 23 days postop now and things are finally getting back to good. YAY! the weight loss started back again. I have lost 2 pounds in 5 days and I am tickled with that. My only complaint is I wish the stinkin' weather would COOL OFF so I can get outside and walk or bike ride with my kids. It has been 110+ degrees ALL WEEK. I'm thinking Alaska sounds good....I don't know if I can SWIM all the way to Alaska though...lol. Thanks for the encouragment from the peeps in my last post. It really makes my perspective so much less bleak when I hear that I am not alone! Good luck to all you other fishies still swimming!

I was sleeved 07/12/2011 and have been struggling with psychological hunger as well. People ask me if I feel hungry anymore and I tell them my head and heart thinks I am, but physiologically--no hunger. I cook meals for my family now and I sit downwih them but I have something I can drink instead. Sometimes, I make them eat what I have, whatever soup of the day it is...lol. My doc gave me a book called Living a Lighter Lifestyle that addressed this type of problem and discussed how improtant it is to recognize that we are going through a grieving prcess right now. Grieving the loss of food and what it meant to us before andaccepting that from now on it is simply a source of energy. Reading that book has helped me cope wth these feelings. Hope we both get through this pretty soon and you are not alon (and thank goodness neither am I...lol)

08/01/2011--20 days out I am a litte late getting into the support group thing. I will be honest enough to admit that I was arrogant enough to think I wouldn't need any support other than my family. Then the trouble began and I needed answers and advicce and felt compelled to seek encouragement from people wo knew EXACTLY what I was going through. My family has been great...amazing in fact...but I can't help but wonder what they would really say if they KNEW, you know? So I turned to this forum and am getting what I need for now i think. After an emotional day yesterdayI have decided today that maybe journaling my experience would be therapeutic. Anyhoo, I am feeling better and stronger today. My appt with my surgeon is tomorrow so maybe he can tell me all the nausea and pain in my left side were a fluke or from going back to work to soon and pulling something. I went on a 10 minute bike ride today and I feel better for taking another step in the right direction. I was feeling so down yesterday about feeling so sick and hurting so much and I finally cried and acknowledged that I am mad and disappointed in myself that I haven't been able to bounce right back. But I woke up today feeling like the worst is behind me so maybe it is. I haven't lost any weight for a whole week and that is frustrating too, but I have read that lots of pople plateau during the third wekk and logically I know that I cannot cotinue to consume so few calories and NOT continue to lose weight, so I just have to wait it out, I guess. Overall, i has been a rough road so far, but you kno what...my husband told me yesterday if this were an easy answer to weight loss then everybody would do it and I think he was exactly right. I have traveled this weight loss road so many times now, but in my heartof hearts, I know that I will finally find what I have been looking for and I won't go back! So for now, in the words of Dory (lol) I will "just keep swimming, just keep swimming..."

I laughed about the shaving bit as well. That's what husbands are for BTW-Lord knows we do enough dirty work for them from time to time. Had mine shave my legs so I could weigh in the same clothes for my pre and post-op visits which meant wearing shorts. I was able to shave again after they took my drain out at 1 week though so you won't have to wear pants toooo much longer..lol.

Thanks for the feedback and encouragement. I will ask my surgeon about all this on Tuesday now instead of sitting inhis office feeling clueless and helpless. I am trying not to get depressed over how things are NOT going well for me and the encouragement helps as well as knowing I am not the only one who hasn't had everythign turn out smelling like roses right now. I am looking forward to the days when I can honestly say I don't regret doing this to myself...

I am 18 days out and have had nausea the last 10 days and moderate to severe pain the last 5 days on my left side right under the margin of the ribcage towards the center that is constant and then there is pain in my left shoulder that is very sharp and intemittent, worse when I lay down. I have not had any fever and went to the ER yesterday because my surgeon's office said I needed an upper GI. They drew labs ad did a flat plate xray but said they will not do a barium swallow on emergency basis even though my surgeon's office requested it on the phone ( I live 100 miles away from surgeon and went to a local ER). The tests came back normal so I have no explanation for my symptms. My surgeon's office was irritated with ER but it was too late in the day by that time to get an upper GI scheduled at surgery hospital. They told me to go back on clear liquids 48 hours and basically lay around with my head elevated until my appt on 08/2 when my surgeon gets back from vacation unless I get worse or develop fever then to come back to the hospital ER where I had surgery. I should have gone there to begin with but felt to bad and car rides are excruciating for me right now. I can't decide if i should be woried about a leak or maybe I pulled something due to the hernia repair they did as well or if maybe this is just something some people just go through. I am VERY frustrated right now and want my life back. I SOOO tired of feeling bad and the timing SUCKS because my surgeon is out of town. I would like some advice/feedback from anyone who has had these issues and/or what I could/should do to get through this.

I am 2 weeks post-op and am struggling with nausea right now. It didnt start until the beginning of the second week about day 8. My doctor says it is uncommon as well but he thinks it is because I am not drinking enough Protein but this is because I feel so sick...bleck...and nothing sounds good. I did find a shake today that is quite good and hoepfully will be the key since I can tolerate it. As for hair loss, he told me as long as I got my 50 grams of protein in per day, I wouldn't lose my hair. I don't know how realistic this is, but that's what I know right now.