Lissa

kayte, I'll let you in on the secret to my exercise habits... It IS MFP. I see that others who were sleeved after me are doing more workouts than I am and it makes me want to work out, too. That's my motivation. If they can do it, so can I.

I still have a Protein bar or shake most days. That 30 gram boost to the protein intake is very helpful. I also try to choose high protein Snacks like cheese, lunch meat, etc. You'll find your own way to get the protein into your sleeve. I have regressed to the protein bars/shakes because I'm trying to add more veggies and carbs to my diet. I'm adding them because they seem to fuel my workouts better than pure protein does.

You're going to be successful. Matter of fact, you will probably get to your goal while I'm still working on mine! But, that's okay. I will get there!

The stop and walk advice is what I got from my pulmonary doctor. Every hour I had to stop and at least walk a lap around the car. I was 2 months out from surgery and I did have a pre-op blood clot, but I am sure the advice to stop and walk is good.

LOL, Dooter! I'm closer to your stats, except for the height!

Yeah, my hormones kicked in around 4-5 months out, too. It's pretty strange to go from normal to high libido almost overnight.

I forgot weights and calisthenics in that schedule. I do them while I'm stuck. Since I'm self-employed, I spend a lot of time waiting on other people to send me information. If I'm stuck waiting, I'll go ahead and do my weights while I'm sitting here.

I am usually up by 7am and, if I'm not working, I hit the gym early to do my cardio (half hour on the recumbent bike). I normally eat a mini-babybel right after I get up and take my morning meds/vitamins and drink a bottle of Water. When I go to the gym, I take a bottle of water with me and my goal is to finish it before I'm done with the half hour on the bike. I just added walking to/from the gym to my routine so I may have to figure out how to refill the bottle. Breakfast is usually a Protein bar. If I'm home, lunch is something home made. If I'm on the road, I'll grab a Wendy's chili or take something with me. If I take something with it can be as simple as a Protein Bar or, if I'll have more time to eat, a tuna kit. Bottle of water before lunch, then another during the afternoon. dinner is often stir fry, which gives me my veggies and a healthy serving of dense protein. I've recently discovered Clif bars, so they are often my evening snack. If I haven't been to the gym yet, I'll eat a clif bar on the way down there. I'll hit the hot tub at our clubhouse after my workout or after dinner if I worked out early in the day. Sometime after dinner I try to drink at least 24 oz of water again. I love it flavored with Mio drops, so I can drink a bunch of water without hurting. I try to log on my fitness pal as I go, but, if I haven't logged, I'll usually enter my food for the day right before bedtime. I hope that helps you out.

I find that using a food tracker helps keep me on the straight and narrow. I don't want to have to post that I ate something really outside my diet plan, and I'm religious about posting the good, the bad and the ugly. However, the other side of that coin is that we are all human and we will slip up sometimes. The food tracker helps me see what I've been doing and get back on track quicker. Good luck!

I took chewable vitamins, sublingual b-12 and used liquid tylenol when I needed pain meds. I did have to take antibiotics about six weeks out, but I just broke the pill in half and had no problems with it.

If your diet is similar to my post-op diet, you have probably just started regular food. The restriction when you start dense Proteins is INCREDIBLE! I remember only being able to eat 2 or 3 bites and then being SO full. I still can't eat much at one sitting, but I can eat mroe than 2-3 bites. The restriction will ease up as you heal further. Please just try to under-eat your sleeve right now, so that you don't experience the slimes or vomitting and enjoy the weight loss. Good luck!!

I still have a bit of that double chin, but nowhere near as bad as before. I'm at 94 pounds lost, if that helps.

I've heard all kinds of numbers, six weeks, six months and a year. Just follow your doctor's instructions and try to under-eat your pouch. That 's about all YOU can control. The rest is up to God and your surgeon's handiwork. If it helps, leaks are very rare, but they do happen. I wouldn't say that any of the people I've seen with leaks or abcesses did anything to cause their leaks.

You can cheat on your pre-op diet all you want. It's okay. Eat whatever you like and ignore your surgeon's advice. The only person you're really cheating is yourself. Following the diet as written will shrink your liver and help you overcome the addiction to sweets and caffeine before surgery, but you can cheat during pre-op and add those two withdrawals to your post-op misery if you like. I was a diet coke addict before surgery and I drank several cans a day. I'm ashamed to say that I seldom drank Water at all. Now, I may have a diet caffeine free coke a couple of times a week, but it's very seldom that I do that. Once I removed the stricture about diet coke from myself, I've found that it's pretty easy to give up. I've also noticed that sweets don't have the same appeal to me now that they did pre-op. Anyone who is my friend on MFP knows that I do have sweets sometimes, but I plan them into my day and I try to eat them early, before my workout. That way at least I get to use the sugar boost when I'm doing my cardio. I'm NOT advocating it, btw, just saying... The pre-op diet helps us change our eating habits and helps start the mind set that we really need to watch what we're eating if we want to make it to goal. It's really best to stick as close to the plan as you can. I credit the two weeks pre-op and the six weeks of post-op restriction with helping me handle both soda and sweets as well as I do today. I'm not perfect but I'm nowhere near as bad as I was before surgery.

Wow, finally something "good" about soda!! I opened this because I remember a discussion on bezoars here before in relation to celery and coconut. The consensus seemed to be that either could cause a bezoar due to the fibrous nature of the foods. My surgeon says that's not possible, but I wonder if that's what caused yours? Are they doing anything about it or just letting it dissolve on its own?

Wow, you are rocking that sleeve!! I see a major difference in your stomach area and your arms are slimming down quite nicely!

Lol. PDX. Bob died. I need to replace him. Lissa

Barry, I'm not bored yet. I go through phases, but I have a varied diet. It just doesn't include much bread. I used to make 10 loaves of bread a week and loved nothing better than a piece of freshly baked bread warm from teh oven, dripping in butter. Now, as Natural Rhapsody said, my sleeve gets too full too fast when I eat bread, so it's off my list.

1. Start exercising now. It doesn't have to be training for a marathon, but start walking and lifting small weights as soon as you can. You're building the habit into your daily routine, not training for that marathon. 2. Sip, sip, sip. Drinking Water is key, IMO, to losing the weight. Water hydrates your body and skin, fills up your tummy, and washes out the toxins and fat. 3. Get your Protein into your body every single day. 4. Forget dieting. This isn't a diet. It's a way of life. Get in the protein and your veggies, THEN worry about carbs. 5. There are NO good or bad foods. It's either protein or it's not. If I could find a chocolate that had protein in it, I'd do it. Oh, wait, I do... Protein Bars. 6. Eat on a schedule. This is important because we aren't hungry for the first few months. Forgetting to eat is worse, FOR ME, than over eating. 7. Avoid Cheetos!

Good for you! Hopefully Ms. Dawg is as happy about it as you are!

Jess, I started protein bars around the same time as I started solids. Half of one was a full breakfast for me for quite a while. Good luck!!

Capt Derel, You really don't look like I had you pictured in my head. I think it's great that you've put up a picture and that you have some befores, because you're going to be an AFTER very quickly.

Good for you! And, congrats on your engagement!!

I've actually had improvement of my HS since surgery. Of course, I am doing a few specific things to help that, too. I make sure I scrub everything thoroughly every day to help keep the pores clear and I check the vulnerable areas (thighs and armpits for me) regularly for any signs of a boil starting and drain anything that looks suspicious. I use triple anti ointment if I do have to open a spot. I do NOT shave if I'm having issues with bumps anywhere. Goodness, that's a lot of info to share in public! Yikes!

Cattracks! I just had a mental image of the guy who makes balloon animals! You just described how I feel about my boobs right now!