Lissa

It took my quite a while to find a Protein drink I "tolerate" well. I'm getting used to them because they are a somewhat necessary evil. I learned to make protein ice cream right here on VST and that's really good, especially now that it's getting warmer. I also still eat a Protein Bar several times a week for Breakfast. My breakthrough came when I realized that I'm not all that interested in food for it's taste anymore. I usually think of food as either protein or not protein and eat accordingly. There are notable exceptions (cheetos), but most food is just fuel these days. You can do a lot with Protein drinks and powders, too. If you don't like them as a shake, try adding them to pudding or protein ice cream. The World According to Eggface is a great blog! She has tons of recipes for food and drinks that are high protein. She's an RnY girl, but her recipes are great for all of us.

Great job, Michelle!! Doesn't it feel great to know that you're kicking fat's butt!!!

Good luck to all of you! I think the pre-op liquid diet is the hardest part of this journey. You just have to keep your eye on the prize and know that this will be so worth it once the weight starts coming off and your health improves!

Are you allowed to use the sugar free Torani or DaVinci syrups? Both are sold at Walmart and the small bottles are fairly cheap. A tiny bit would go a long way to flavoring your yogurt.

Joni, You're doing great. It takes awhile to get up to that 70 grams of Protein a day consistently, but you will get there! New Life, liquids first, then protein. You'll be a pro at it in no time!

Amy, Thank you. That is so sweet! I get lots of help and support here, so I try to pass that along to other people. I love seeing new sleevers start supporting the next group as well...and this is the best support group on the internet, bar none! I'm stunned that an insurance company would call this cosmetic. I can't wait until they wake up and realize that sleevers' health improves so drastically after surgery that we become "just another insured" without all of the major complications that lie in wait for obese patients. I think insurance companies should be begging obese people to have WLS if only to lower the amount of money the insurance company will have to spend on our health!

Jimmy, How did I miss that you're having problems too? I'll definitely keep you in my prayers as well!! I hate to see people have blood clots, but it sounds like your doctors are right on top of it! Good luck!

(((Mary))) Praying that things turn around quickly. Good luck!!

I'd give up 10 points of my IQ for this weight loss. From the way some people are treating me these days, I may have given up those points, too...at least in their eyes!

Sounds like you're not going to be eating sweets for quite some time, hmmm? I think you'll conquer that sweet addiction in a hurry now. You're doing it the same way many of us have beat our food addiction. Basically, that's one food at a time. You will learn what sleevie will tolerate and what sleevie won't tolerate. I've gotten sick once and that was because I ate bread and Pasta at my meal, then took a drink much too quickly after eating. I don't eat bread or much pasta anymore.

I didn't dream during anesthesia. I don't dream a whole lot anyway. or not that I remember.

Take your pain meds. Don't turn. Try not to do things that cause you pain. If it doesn't ease up in a day or so, call your doctor. It will get better very quickly!

The most common symptom I have read is throwing up bile. There are other problems that can occur, like abcesses and blood clots, that have different symptoms. Um, don't push on your side. LOL If it hurts, don't do it. So far, you sound normal to me.

JHansen, I could have written some parts of your post. I believe that most of your thought process is normal. I still think that security is going to show up and march me out of the "normal" sizes and back over to the plus size section, too! I don't think you're a slow loser, truthfully. You had less to lose initially, from your post, so you're going to lose at a slower rate than someone like me who started at a 53 BMI. I have 60+ pounds left to lose, so I can relate to where you are at mentally, I think. You need to not compare yourself to other sleevers. That's a sure way to have really big mental issues. As for do you need therapy? I think we all need at least a little therapy. If we didn't have some underlying issue, none of us would be obese. Just being obese is enough to make people need therapy, IMO. Talking over the issues with someone would probably help. I feel like I'm "passing" a lot of times now. I'm not the biggest person in the room or at an event. I sometimes think that there must be an aura around me that says "I'm fat", even though I'm nowhere near as big as I was before. For your food/water issues. Can you eat higher Protein foods to help with the protein/water dilemma? I use Premier Protein Bars to help me stay on top of my protein intake. Eating one for Breakfast gives me energy for my workouts, plus lets me free up some space for some veggies later in the day. It also allows me to drink more Water and doesn't leave me feeling icky afterwards like something higher in fat would. Good luck! This is the right place to ask questions!

If your pain meds aren't working, CALL YOUR DOCTOR. Being in pain keeps you from healing quickly and properly. There is NO award for suffering. Also, pain that breaks through your meds could possibly mean you have a complication. Your doctor needs to know.

Congrats!! Good luck!!

I don't know how long it took me. I know that my surgery was about 90 minutes and I remember waking up in recovery vaguely. I don't remember being wheeled to my room, nor do I remember insisting on walking from the wheeled bed to the hospital bed. I also don't remember telling the nurse that there was no way I was getting into that hospital bed. I do remember looking around while I was sitting in the chair and asking why was I sitting up. It just goes to show that everyone's experience is different and we all recover at various rates. Besides, we the patients have the easy part of surgery. We get knocked out and get to sleep through the whole thing.

Take the word "only" out of your vocabulary when it's related to your weight loss, please. When have you EVER lost 40 pounds in ONLY 2 months? Never...and this weight loss you know is not coming back with friends. From February until a week ago (mid-May) I lost a whopping 10 pounds. That's it! But, I lost 3 sizes during that same time period and I started seeing definition in my muscles. My biceps, thighs and abdomen suddenly have muscle that other people can see. I've also shape-shifted so that now my butt is not the size of Texas; it's more like a Michigan now. Take your measurements and look for those non-scale victories. Do you fit better in your car seat? Are your clothes looser? Do you have more stamina for walking, shopping, sex? THOSe are the things that tell you that you are progressing. I'm not even sure who posted it, but one person weighed themselves one day about six times in under an hour. During those six weigh-ins, the scale said they had variously: lost 2 pounds, gained 3 pounds, lost nothing, lost 6 pounds and gained 4 pounds. I believe the poster drank a glass of Water during that hour. The scale is NOT the final arbiter of our weight loss success. Don't get hung up on that number, although it's nice to see losses on the scale. It's JUST a number. There's a set of pictures on Flickr that's called something like "The Faces of Obesity". In it are pictures of all kinds of people, with their weights and BMI listed. One triathelete on there was listed as Obese! The numbers do not tell the whole story, because no one in their right mind would consider a triathlete obese or unfit.

My doctor suggests moving back a stage for a day or so anytime you have a problem with a food. So, if you're on solids, move back to soft foods or mushies for a day. If you're on mushies, move back to full liquids for a day.

As soon as you're cleared, walking and light weights are the way to start. Once you've gotten a bit of stamina back from the walking, I suggest the recumbent bike, especially for building up the knee muscles in a low impact way. Also, walking on a treadmill MIGHT be easier than walking in the wild.

Sandyd, You're almost there, too!! I can't wait to see your Century Club picture!

Luwanna, Post-op isn't "awful". I think a lot of it is your mind-set. I was not expecting pain or for the diet to be terribly difficult, and I didn't have pain or a terribly difficult post-op. In my head, I knew that the post-op diet was set that way for a reason and that my sleeve needed to heal. I didn't want complications, so I stuck to it religiously. My pain was less than either of my c-sections and BONUS I didn't have a newborn to care for at the same time! LOL It's an adjustment to deal with the discomfort of surgery, and to make sure you get in your liquids and Proteins, especially while your sleeve is still swollen. For me, it was also an adjustment to get used to walking because I almost couldn't walk pre-op. But, it was ALL worth it to be down 100 pounds at 8.5 months later. I know I'll reach my goal, but even if I don't, I feel like a brand new person now!!!

Without knowing ANYTHING else, I'd say you need to be drinking more water.

Eating the m&ms or the pretzels probably wasn't a good idea this early, but you did it, so it's past. Coping strategies are what you need for the future, though. I'm the queen of them, only my addiction is baked cheetos. OMG, I can, and will, eat a whole giant bag at one sitting. So, I don't keep them in the house. If I do buy them, I make it a small, one serving bag, and I sit down and deliberately enjoy every single cheeto in that little bag. Then I do NOT repeat that experience for as long as I can stand it, usually about a month! LOL When out and about, I try to get a drink and stay far away from foods that I know tempt me. The m&ms would have gotten me too. But, I have learned to take a small handful and WALK AWAY FROM THE BOWL before I eat them. Then I try to make them last as long as possible, savoring the taste. BTW, M&Ms don't taste all that great when you really pay attention to their taste, at least for me. Move on, try to avoid being in a similar situation, and do better tomorrow. You'll figure out how to avoid your temptations as time goes on, or at least how to manage them better.

Shelley, For right now, you know how much you need to get in during the day, which is probably 64 oz of liquids. Divide that into how many hours you'll be up today, which is probably 12-14 hours, so between roughly 5 ounces an hour. Can you commit to drinking 5 ounces every hour? That way you'll know you're getting in your liquids over the course of the day. Early on, my full signal was actually pain in my left shoulder and I had no clue. I was trying to walk off the pain in my shoulder and, when I took a drink of water, made the pain start again. That was a duh moment for me. You'll get it. Just keep working at it.