LindaS

Before you drink alcohol, look up the calories. You will be surprised. I've found that knowing the calorie count makes me less likely to indulge in alcoholic drinks. Before I knew the calorie count, I was more likely to have "just one" and depending on what kind that one drink was, I could be drinking up to half my entire calorie count for the day. I have had beer, wine and mixed drinks since being sleeved. I don't drink as fast or as much as I used to do. In social situations, I've found that I need to specifically tell the bartender or waiter to NOT bring me a drink if someone buys a round for the table. My drinks tend to get warm before I am able to finish them if I finish them. When I am out socially, I have a few stand bys: For beer, I usually get a Budweiser 55 because it is low in calories. It tastes OK. Water with a shot of cranberry juice (no alcohol), but it looks like a mixed drink Tomato juice (no alcohol) Arnold palmers (tea and lemonade mixed, no alcohol) Rum and coke (I've found that I tend to drink these slower than most drinks, especially if they are fixed strong.) Things I've learned to avoid: margaritas (too many calories) Girly beers like Mike's Hard Lemonade, Mojitos, blueberry/lemonade drinks, etc. These start at about 220 calories and go up from there. I can drink them too fast, and about 3 of them over several hours will make me drunk enough that I want to go to bed. The Mike's berry flavored ones also give me a headache the next day even if I only had one, and I don't usually have headaches. Fancy Shots (too many ingredients that are usually high in calorie) I tend to mix my drinks up. I might start with a Budweiser 55, but for my second round, I will get water with cranberry juice. It will be a couple of rounds before (if) I get another beer. I don't drink wine when I'm out socially. I do have it at home in the evening sometimes. I've started pouring myself half a glass instead of a full glass.

I'm a teacher too, and I went back to work after two weeks. I teach at a university, so it involves a lot of walking too. I was tired the third week -- falling asleep while watching the news, but it did get better. I didn't take any pain meds after my hospital stay. I haven't had any issues, and I haven't thrown up anything not even while still in the hospital.

You might want to have your urine checked too in order to find out if you are in ketosis or not. Without getting your urine checked, you can usually figured out you are in ketosis if your mouth is really dry, and you have bad breath and a horrible taste in your mouth that even mints and brushing your teeth won't get rid of.

I'm not sure what it is called, but it is a line defining the muscle in your arms, thighs and calves. I had forgotten that was possible!

I am a year out, and I would say I get a normal full feeling. Still, I find that I need to give myself a bit of time to recognize that full feeling. When eating, I tend to stop for a bit and let my stomach process what is in there. This helps keep me from eating too much. I don't stop for a long time, but I will put my fork down and talk a bit more and let my stomach adjust for a minute or two. It helps me figure out if I should take another bite or not.

How awesome! Thanks so much for sharing!

I like the Bariwise fruit drinks. They have 15 grams of protein too. I really like the Peach Mango flavor. For winter, I like the hot chocolate mixes although I add half of a "diet" carnation packet to the protein-enriched hot chocolate packet. it enhances the flavor, and I still get the protein.

Great job!

I like Greek Yogurt that is flavored. Healthy Choice now makes a 100 calorie pre-packaged frozen greek yogurt that is very yummy. I also like the Protein drinks. If you are craving something you can bite into, try protein chips or jerky. You can find a good selection of high protein food on sites like dietdirect.com. Linda

When my dad had this problem, he went to a local bakery. They have large scales there to weigh flour. People have also used the scales at a grain and feed (co-op) place (where they sell food for animals like horses and cows). Generally these type of places are fine with letting someone use their scales.

I'm a year out, and my scars are still visible, but you have to look hard to see them.

I can kind of understand why the successful sleever suggested you look online rather than just talk to her. I'm with the ones that suggest she was doing it with the best of intentions. My mother-in-law is in the process of getting the sleeve, and I had it done a year ago. I am VERY nervous about this. I am excited for her, but I am also worried that if she ends up having a bad experience or problems that I am to blame. I am very nervous about this. When I first had the sleeve, she openly declared she'd never get WLS. I remember posting in the rants section because she kept bringing over food when I was in the liquid phase. Then a cardiologist suggested WLS to her, and she has seen how it has helped me, and she is looking forward to WLS. She has been struggling to lose weight through diet and exercise, and we all know how hard that can be. Before she decided to have WLS, I didn't talk about my experience much because I could easily monopolize a conversation with everything I was feeling and experiencing. When she was looking into it, I was very cautious about telling her about my choice because I wanted her to make her own choice. I talked to her about the various Centers of Excellence and why I went with the one I did. She decided to go to the same place. I went with her to the initial meeting that tells about the various options, and I've gone with her to most of her appointments. I have tried to be very supportive with her while still trying not to influence her into doing it "my way." Still, she decided to go with the sleeve, and she even ended up being assigned my surgeon. She likes that I've done what she is doing now because I can help her find where she is going and tell her what to expect. My mil hasn't told a lot of people that she is going to get WLS. She is still finishing all of the requirements and something could still halt the process. She had a second endoscopy today, and she has an appointment with a pulminologist (sp?) in the future. Yesterday, she finally told her daughter about it. Her daughter probably has a bmi of 60 or higher. Several years ago, the daughter looked into getting sleeved and even started the process, but her insurance denied her coverage. Since then she lost her insurance and hasn't restarted the process with her new insurance. My sil has been going to a different center of excellence than I did. One of the first things the daughter said was that she wanted to be at the hospital with her mom. Her mom told her no that either her husband or I would be with her. My mil wasn't being mean. My sil has some medical issues that make it hard for her to travel, and she also doesn't have a lot of money. The location my mil is having surgery would place a burden on my sil financially and medically. All of this is a very long winded way of saying that it feels very scary to be an adviser to someone starting on this process. I am glad to help, but I worry that my comments will influence my mil to make a choice that won't be right for her. It is easier to do it in this forum where my comments are one of many and my influence doesn't have such a direct impact on my life. For instance -- if my mil has surgery this fall, it is possible that she will still be on a liquid diet at Thanksgiving. She is the one who normally cooks thanksgiving dinner. Will she still want to do that? And if she doesn't, who will? And how will my extended family feel if my mil decides that a family tradition won't be happening this year? Will I get blamed? Or worse, will I be expected to cook and host Thanksgiving? I've never cooked a turkey!

I haven't lost weight since May, and I am making changes to get over this. I have been tracking my food regularly, but I'm still not losing. It made me really review what I was doing and where I might be going wrong. My biggest area of questionable eating is when I cook at home. How much am I really eating? I suspect that my portions are larger than I realize. To get me back on track, I've recently bought smaller bowls (4 ounce size) and a digital scale. This way, I will know exactly how many calories I am eating because I will know the weight of my food. I am hoping that using the scale will help teach me what portion sizes really are, and I will be a better judge of portions at other iffy times like in restaurants. I am also reviewing my exercising and upping my game there as well. Walking three times a week isn't enough. I need to do the stuff that leaves me red faced and drenched in sweat at least 5 times a week. And I'm joining the gym at work.

I have almost no issues with eating. I can pretty much eat anything. I haven't had any vomiting or nausea -- not even in the hospital. But I don't eat bread. And I used to love bread. Since surgery, it fills me up very quickly (less than a single piece), and it hurts to be that full. I can eat toast or hardened bread types, but even then, I don't eat a lot of it.

I'm 40, and I weighed 255 at my highest (BMI of 40). I've lost 73 pounds. Almost immediately as I lost weight, I started getting loose skin on my arms. I started lifting weights and within three weeks, I saw improvement. It has now been a year, and I would say that I don't have any loose hanging skin anywhere. However, my belly is very loose/saggy, but I've also given birth to four children. It is getting better, but it will never be perfect. I exercise pretty regularly. My legs also have muscle definition in my calves and thighs. I am hoping some exercises targeting my belly will help as well. I think my belly is also from having kids and not just being overweight.

My driver's license expires next week, and I got a letter that I could renew by mail. No WAY. I want a new picture, and I didn't even think about the weight thing. How cool! I'm really looking forward to it.

I also take Biotin 7500, and I did have hair loss about equal to what Wheetsin is showing. I started losing hair about 3 or 4 months after surgery, and it lasted for a couple of months. I did a few things to help lessen the hair loss -- at least how noticeable the loss was to others. I have thick hair and usually thin it, and I stopped doing that for a while. I started washing my hair every other day instead of daily. I had my hair cut a bit shorter since the loss was most noticeable at the ends. I also stopped coloring my hair for a while. I was worried that the color might accelerate the hair loss. I waited 10 months after my surgery before I colored again. I spoke a lot to my hairdresser about my options and how bad my hair loss was. I spoke to her almost immediately, and she helped assure me that it was OK. She had some products I could use as well if my hair loss got worse, but I never had to use them.

I started out having a BMI higher than 94 percent of the women in the US ages 30 to 44. I currently have a BMI lower than 57 percent of the women in the US ages 30 to 44. I started in Tonga and am currently in Fiji. I'm heading towards Myanmar. Very cool facts. Thanks for sharing!

A slider food is a food that you can eat large quantities of even though your stomach is smaller. It is usually something with lots of carbs -- chips or popcorn. Ice cream can also slide pretty well. You can eat more of it than you should without it hurting, so your stomach doesn't get that full feeling. A non slider food is something that fills you up fast. For me, this is refried Beans. I can't eat more than 1.5 ounces of them at a time, and it takes hours before I want to eat anything else.

It's OK to grieve a bit, but you just need to know that it isn't forever. You won't always have to miss those foods, but there are things that you've struggled to do or couldn't do, and you are going to be able to say goodbye to those struggles forever. Like Sarah said, I encourage you to make a list. In addition to Sarah's list of things you can't wait to do, I suggest you write a list of things you never want to do again. The things that you will be saying goodbye to permanently -- not being able to cross your legs, not being able to walk a flight of stairs without heavy breathing, etc. It will help give you perspective. Just know that what you are feeling isn't wrong. I was on the liquid diet longer than anyone it seemed, and I missed chewing so much! But I'm chewing again, and I don't miss fitting into size 22 jeans.

food travels through your esophagus and into your stomach and intestines through a series of waves. The waves start when you swallow. The theory is that if you swallow more (drink while eating), the food can move to and through your stomach faster. When it gets to the stomach, what happens depends on the type of WLS you have had. Sleeve patients still have a pyloric valve at the bottom of their stomach. This means things aren't released from your stomach until your stomach fills up and signals to move things along. Bypass patients don't have a pyloric valve at the bottom of their stomach. Food isn't stopped and can wash through quicker with liquids. This is what is depicted on the YouTube video that explains why you shouldn't drink after WLS. If you go to this link from the US Health and Human Services department, you can read about how the digestive process works. In the section that says "Movement of Food Through the System," you can read about the three tasks the stomach has including the factors that go into emptying the stomach. It notes that carbs go through faster and Protein stays the longest. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/yrdd/

I was perusing the health and fitness boards at Pinterest.com tonight, and I found a link to this Weight Loss Simulator. It lets you plug in your current weight and your goal weight. It works best if you use the advanced settings to customize things like height, and you can even make the virtual girl look more like you. You have to change the height to really get a simulation close to your real body size. What I found fascinating was playing around with the goal weight, so I could see how much or how little difference 5 pounds would make. For instance, I didn't see very much difference between my model at 170 to 160, but when I lowered 160 to 155, it was a huge difference. For the women: http://api.modelmydiet.com/eywomen For the men: http://api.modelmydiet.com/eymen