Lissa

Most of us don't truly have a lot of restriction until we get to solid food... and then, whoa baby, do we have restriction! I could barely eat half a scrambled egg when I started soft solids, but I'd been able to drink plenty of liquid, including Protein Shakes and yogurt, before that. Greiga, it sounds like you're doing fine with your liquids. Keep up the good work.

What advice are you looking for? Do you want someone to tell you it's the best thing they've ever done? If so, HERE I AM!! Honestly, I wish I'd done this 10 years sooner. Over 100 pounds lost in less than a year and I'm back to ME. Yeah, my advice is to do it. OTOH, You should be aware there is a small chance of complications and you should know that there is a risk going into the process. The risk is low, but it's 100% if you're the one with the complication. Most of the people I've seen who have complications still say they'd do it again, if that helps at all. I'm still excited every single day to get up and see what my loss is for the day, to exercise, to enjoy living again, rather than feeling like I'm waddling along the sidelines of life. I'm a week shy of one year out from surgery and I feel like I have my life back. It's a tremendous feeling to know that I can do anything I want to do and that being fat is not holding me back!!!

High heels and shorter dresses are two of my favorite clothing items now!

I've accepted that this is how I lose for now, dropping sizes faster than pounds. I really got serious about exercise in January and my weight loss slowed down dramatically, BUT I have lost several sizes since then. I also see definition in my muscles. Truthfully, although my ticker shows that I have 50 pounds to goal, I'm pretty happy where I am except for the loose skin. I'm still working it, though. I remember being amazed when Lil Miss Diva posted her weight/size combination... I believe it was 170's and a size 0, at least back then. Now I know how that can happen. I'm in a 14/16 at 240, which blows my mind. For reference, I wore a size 12 in high school at 170...and I ran track back then! I've heard that sizes have changed some since 30 years ago, but I'm still amazed! It's disconcerting to see the scale barely move when your clothes are falling off every couple of weeks, but it definitely happens!

Nice biceps!!

I'm working on making exercise my new addiction! If there MUST be something, let it be cardio! LOL

Dexter, I hated my first sleep test...and it was because of the mask. I'm a mouth breather and they kept putting that nose mask on me, which freaked me out. The tech finally figured out that the nose mask wasn't going to work for me and gave me a full face mask to use. It made all the difference in the world for me! I DID have severe sleep apnea, so bad that I knew I wasn't breathing right and I had horrible problems staying awake during the day. Even after my official diagnosis, I had a little clausterphobia about sleeping with the mask, until a friend gave me some great pointers to get past that. Now, I can't sleep without my CPAP it seems. It sounds like you and the tech may have gotten off on the wrong foot. I've had three sleep tests so far and all of the techs I've had were very soothing, chit chatting with me while they apply the wires and leads, offering anything necessary to make me comfortable, and always speaking in soothing voices. Perhaps that's different than at other sleep centers, but I assumed it was "the way things are done". If you do have to repeat the test, ask for a different tech and ask for something to calm you down beforehand. Good luck!! I know this is one of the toughest tests to get through because of all the wires and leads, plus that mask is a tough adjustment, and you're trying to sleep in a strange place. Hopefully, you'll be able to get enough sleep time in to give them the data they need.

I think you're doing a terrific job! Keep up the good work!! Congrats on being in the Century Club already. Hopefully you'll soon be a double member of it!!

I think this should be pinned to answer the numerous posts about protein shots! Thank you for taking the time to find the research, OTR!

Make sure you aren't eating anything with milk in it. That's how I discovered that I'm lactose intolerant.

Yay!!! Welcome to the Century Club!! It is true that sometimes our bodies just need to be shocked into dropping a few pounds.

Since this post popped up in my feed today, I thought I'd post that I'm LOVING the iPod Touch!! I use it every day for gym time! It's great because I can turn off my phone, go into the gym and workout without worrying about my phone ringing or sending me a text message while I'm working out. I just discovered that I can listen to audiobooks on there, which is great because my hour of cardio gets pretty boring and I can be a thousand miles away while logging cardio time!!

I take Biotin daily, and have since 2 months out. It seems to have helped, but I've also been very compliant with the Protein requirement. 5 days out from surgery you should be worrying about Water, not protein. Your restriction will ease up as you go on and you'll be better able to get the protein in.

nyxa said: (even though he seemed to be very nice.. except for the child molestation thing). lol I'm truly LOL at this. I worked in a couple of prisons while in college. The child molesters are usually the nicest, most polite guys you'll ever find.

I loved broth while I was on liquids. I drank it lukewarm and it soothed my tummy. It's got a little Protein and I did try to either make my own or buy low sodium broth, but that was my lifesaver back then. It DOES get better! Good luck!!

I started with one set a day of ten reps. As your fitness level improves, you'll add reps to keep it challenging. Good luck!!

Similar. My mom was dx schizophrenic (don't know about the hereditary aspect of that), and I put it down on my psyche evaluation. My psyche was nuts herself, though. She told me I would be an alcoholic, no options. I obviously got approval for my surgery and I'm not an alcoholic a year later, so I think you should be fine. As far as your being OCD, that's probably a good thing! That means you'll be very compliant with vitamins, exercise and meds.

Oh, actingnurse, I have a soft spot for NICU nurses. My son was in NICU for 8 days and it was the absolute scariest few days of my life! He's a strapping 6'3" 22 year old now, but I remember how sweet and helpful the nurses were back then. You have an amazing, terrible, oh so important job!!!

Low weights, high reps. I do biceps curls, triceps kick backs, skull crushers, overhead arm extensions, etc. daily. There are several really good arm videos on You Tube. I started with 2 pound weights, 10 reps each, adding reps as they got easier. I've raised weights regularly as the weight got too easy to do at 100 reps. I carry a small weight in the car with me because I do tons of driving daily and I do one arm at a time as I drive. My personal trainer just moved me to cable weights and small barbells for the same exercises and added a couple of exercises that work the muscles around the rotator cuff to prevent injury for me. We anticipate that I'll start lifting more serious weight within a month or two. My arms look fantastic. I have serious bicep muscle and definition in my upper arms, chest and shoulders, although not like a body builder would have. I do still have some loose skin, but I have good muscle definition under there.

I agree with the others above that a lot of things can affect your heart rate. My resting heart rate has gone down since surgery, possibly because I'm MUCH more active than I was pre-op. I do at least 30 minutes of cardio per day, and I'm in the process of adding time to that number. I see a pulmonologist regularly because I had blood clots and a couple of pulmonary embolisms before surgery. He did an EKG at my last appointment and said that the new readout is "the sexiest thing" because it's so much better than it was a year and 100 pounds ago. I'm worried because you said you're almost at a point that you don't care about yourself anymore. That's sad to me. I hope you'll find something in your life (either alone or with a therapist's help) that can inspire you to do something for yourself. Every life is worth living and you've got something to offer to others, whether it's a compassionate heart or an inspiring story about how you've survived all your troubles and tribulations. YOU are worth the chance to have a better life! I know where you're at right now. I was there just over a year ago and I was wondering when I could just die and be done with all the troubles in this life. Now, I'm up and going every day, working, spending time with my friends and family and anticipating what's next for me! I was told that I'd die in a year if I didn't lose some serious weight very quickly. Here I am a year later and my future is literally so bright that I have to wear shades!!! Please give yourself this gift! You'll never regret it!

Buy or take a comfy robe to cover your backside. For me, the worst part of the hospital is always those thin little blankets, so I took a robe and a wool shawl. Between the two, I was warm and comfy. I probably was a bad patient because I refused to get in the bed, even right after surgery. I stayed in the chair when I wasn't walking. I won't say I was anxious to walk, but I kept getting up and pacing in my room because I just couldn't sit that long. I anticipated hating those stupid socks, but I loved them while I was in the hospital. I think that the other ladies are right. A lot of your experience post-op is determined by your attitude. If you "know" you'll have a lot of pain and a tough recovery, that's what you'll get. A positive attitude goes a long, long way to helping our body recover. I bet you know that already, since you're a nurse. Your patients with a good attitude probably recover more quickly than those whose entire attitude is negative, don't they?

I ended up taking antibiotic pills while I was still on clear liquids. I just cut the pills into pieces and took them with a tiny bit of water. My surgeon's guideline is nothing bigger than a regular M&M. At a year out, I'm back on regular multivitamins, which are fairly large, and I swallow them with no problems. I've been able to dump quite a few of my Rx meds over the last year. Hopefully, you'll be able to come off some of those meds very quickly after surgery. That would be a terrific bonus!

At almost a year out, I eat almost no bread. It makes me uncomfortably full and bread has been involved in all three of my sliming episodes. Considering that I used to make all of my family's bread, I was something of a bread lover, but now it's just not worth my trouble. I may have a bite here and there, but not often and never more than a bite. I thought I'd miss it more than I do, but it's a non-issue for me.

Congrats!! You'll be sleeved the day after my 1st Surgiversary! I can't wait to watch you transform yourself into a new, healthier, you!!

You look like you, only better! Congrats on the pay off for all your hard work!!