LoserMama

CONGRATULATIONS!!! That is so so great, these are the kinds of things i am looking forward to, living normally without consciously (or unconsciously) making accommodations for being obese.

Oh me too. Or i would have asked her if she was enjoying her meal. I used to get sooooo bugged when I was nursing my older two kids in public, I would actually let it stop me from doing it in public. Same with taking insulin shots or taking my blood sugar. people would stare. As I got older, i decided i did NOT need to let other people take my enjoyment away from me, or to let it bother me. It was really really hard to push through feeling uncomfortable and felt easier to leave or run away, but gradually I got to my place of holding my ground, ignoring or staring down stupid people. LOL! I eat out all the time and have not had any waiter issues. I've used the tricks learned here -- I still order a glass of Water and push it away, or if I'm with hubby, he drinks some of his first and then switches with me. For food I order a very small thing or I get a box to start with. Have had zero issues that way.

Spinoff...did you know they actually make a lime margarita crystal light? Yum!

crossover addiction is a real issue to be sure. Money was already an issue for me, and so I'm trying to work VERY hard on the emotional issues behind why I want to soothe myself with food, spending, etc. For me, I will be trading one kind of misery for another if I don't stay focused on the issues below the behavior. What is super hard right now, with changing weight so fast, I HAVE to buy clothes, but the really hard thing is what I HAVE to do versus what I want to do. I definitely "impulse bought" a kenneth cole top this weekend. No reason to buy it atall, it was just cute and it was fun I could buy a regular old XL. I'm realizing, hard core, that just because my stomach is smaller, doesn't mean my reasons for using these behaviors has gone away. It stinks!

Woooohooo, hotty girl! That confidence and bright light is shining through as the pounds drop, awesome, eh? Enjoy it and be safe of course.

I really really struggled with the liquid diet and the whole progression to be honest. I understand how you are feeling, but get back on the regular program today. the biggest part that is scary for me is when I make choices that deviate away from what I am supposed to be doing, I almost worry more about the mental ramifications of the excuses I've made for myself, than the physical, though at a month out I would be more worried about that too. When I start justifying my choices, I know I'm on a slippery slope. Doesn't stop me from doing it sometimes, but I know that stinking thinking is at the bottom of it... (I'm at a family gathering....my sleeve is bigger...I'm testing my limits...it was sugar free....I chewed it well....) I've used every single one of those too, and I know that what everyone told me is the truth that I don't really want to hear. I do believe we need to be really kind to ourselves though, in this time, and give ourselves credit for the things we do right, and to acknowledge the things we do that arent on plan, don't try to rationalize them, and immediately get back on the plan. Don't beat yourself up, and don't let anyone else beat you up, either. I think it was MEMEME that turned me onto this book who said that they were going through it in their post-op support group, but i can't say enough good things about The Beck Diet Solution. The name is stupid, with the word Diet in it, so don't let that mislead you. Its not a diet, in any way shape or form. its a great book about retraining our brains to think the right way about eating, food and exercise. Its just simply awesome.

dannielle, you are totally right. Part of my problem is that my sleep studies were done years ago when I lived in a different part of the country. So i have no one here locally. my primary just gives me a new prescription every few years for the same thing and I get a new machine, but he admits to not knowing anything about it really, just lets the DME handle it. I think i am going to have to go the sleep institute here to redo a sleep study, either lab or at home. I have two cool machines -- one is the devilbiss intellipap autoadjust, and my travel one is a Transcend, a teeeeny little thing that is not an APAP and has a battery so I can use it on the plane if need be, or if there is a power outage. As I am traveling this week, I am wondering if that machine will blow me away now, it is set at a pressure of 12. And I'm not sure how to adjust that one. My machine ran between 6-6.5 all night again last night.

I just wanted to say "hugs" and I am glad you reached out. you know what you need to do, but knowing and beign able to do are not the same thing. I deal with food addiction too, and its NOT EASY. Everything has already been said, but get yourself that counselor right away, someone familiar with WLS. Also, I know I have mentioned this book on here before, but pick up Beck Diet Solution -- its a step by step approach for learning the new skills we need to change our behaviors. Work through it day by day. OA would also be a good choice in addition to a counselor.

Well, my experiment results. (Disclaimer: yes, I know that a professional should adjust my machine..but this is an experiment, and given I have an auto adjusting machine, my machine still essentially had the control to operate at what level it needed to. I am in no way endorsing you to adjust your own machine, but think since i have a smart machine that senses what level it needs to operate at to prevent apneas within the range set, it was a fairly safe experiment) So I adjusted my lower limit of my autoadjust range from 10 down to 6. And it operated at 6.5 last night effectively! So I have definitely gone WAY down from my typical pressure needed of 14, which is what my reports used to show. Yay! Will leave it at this range again tonight and see what happens. I still feel great upon waking up.

Yeah, I had the three week stall and it lasted a couple of weeks. WIth my pattern of loss, I am now seeing that I can just expect to stall for a couple of weeks, lose 3-4 lbs in a hurry, and then stall again. So I think I just need to get used to it.

Thank you! I think I'm really going to look into adjusting the range on my autoadjusting machine as Dannielle suggested and see what kind of data I get. awesome! I could NEVER use a mask. I've used a CPAP for almost eight years now, and the only thing I can use are the nasal pillows. Damn masks ALWAYS leaked. I am hoping to be off of it, but think I remember that I snored pretty good even at about 210-220 pounds before that maybe I won't be able to lose it yet. We'll see. I wish you luck and I hear you on the sleep test. Ugh. Oh oh oh....yes the sleep studies were so incredibly miserable. I had to do not one, but two, one to test for sleep apnea, and a second one for machine titration levels or whatever. SO CRAPPY. I really hope this home test option would work out, its been soooo long for me...eight years, things have changed I hope, for the better.

Very cool. I hope maybe I can do that kind of home test very soon. I kind of figure once I reach 199 that might be my trigger point. I still am not certain if what my ENT told me is true, that I may still have sleep apnea because of my deviated septum. The surgery for deviated septum, I have heard, is NOT fun. So I don't know about that part, but a home sleep study would be awesome. I'll have to ask!

Oh, Dannielle, after I was thinking for a bit this is what I want to try. I do already have an autoadjusting machine (intellipap) , but its set to a range, and the data from the last couple of weeks is showing its now running at the bottom of the range. It won't go lower, will it? So they could possibly adjust my range down and see what it does ? That may be just the thing. Its running at 10 now each night, where I used to run at 12-14 typically.

Did there come a point when you no longer needed CPAP, and how did you know? Did you redo your sleep study or...? Although I am quite oddly dependent on the darn thing as a sleep cue, I travel alot and would love to ditch the cpap soon. I know I have a badly deviated septum so may have to have an operation for that to fully get rid of sleep apnea, but curious about your experiences! Thanks in advance!

shoot tracy, sorry I missed this --they are all gone at this point!

I am so sorry you went through this, and I have to believe that you must have made my way easier, if that is any consolation at all? I have BCBS FEP too. I am guessing all of you pioneers who started requesting they cover sleeve must have made it easier for us, so thank you.

You look awesome (and red is a great color for you, too!) Congrats!!

happy had a lot of good reasons why you may be feeling that way. the last is the one that we most often don't like to hear (especially me) but if all physical reasons (acid reflux, not enough Water, etc) have been ruled out, consider that what you are feeling may not be hunger. If the "hunger" feels like it has to be satisfied by a particular food, or if you feel driven to eat really fast, or if you feel really happy after eating it, those are just a few of my signs, others may have others, it may be head hunger and not physical hunger. Here is an interesting article on the subject. http://amihungry.com/head-hunger-cope-with-triggers.shtml

myfitnesspal, pdxman is right ,because users can enter data for items, the stuff is almost always there. I am LoserMama73 on there!

I'm losing slow too. My ticker is total weight loss, so I've lost....26 lbs in almost two months? I mean, thats awesome, I'll take it, but I was hoping for more. Oh well, I figure even if I just lose an average of a pound a week from here on out, by end of year I will be pretty close to goal! I was just hoping for more rapid loss.

This thread is great to read. Related to my concerns about what I was able to eat at lunch yesterday. Its good to know that this isnt uncommon.

Doggz, I think you are right. I am guessing my sleeve holds a bit more than some, but if I stick to dense Protein, that is the key. I have been trying the past couple of days to consciously consume more calories to try to break my stall. Not sure its working. I'm not sure how much "more" a person needs to eat (or if it should be a different type of food) to break a stall. Oilsooner, yum, hardboiled eggs. Those really fill me up when I have them, so I bet they will keep you full feeling too. Amanda -- I wish I had lower capacity, but I guess all in all, I still eat a ton less than I used to, so if you look at it from that perspective, its still major improvement. Thanks everyone!

'' It took me somewhere between 20-25 minutes, no liquids. I'm quite good about no liquids. Now, at dinner, I had 4 small grilled shrimp, about an ounce of pork and less than an ounce of thin cut grilled beef (we went out for vietnamese) and I was STUFFED. That was about 4-5 oz total, that seems more like it. I guess cottage cheese and the soft brie were just a bit more sliderish than I would have guessed. Dorrie -- I would kill to feel restriction after 4-5 bites. Wow!! I am seriously wondering if I am going to have to be one of those people that revise to RNY in a couple of years.

So, I am really wondering. I didn't deliberately set out to overeat, I planned these amounts, but after eating it, I wonder if I should have been able to eat what I ate for lunch. I'm 2 months out and at lunch, I had: 4 oz fat free cottage cheese 2 oz brie 2 slices of prosciutto 6 oz strawberries I can kind of see that the cottage cheese and strawberries with chewing almost become liquid. So may pass through easier. but Is this too much to be able to eat, 2 months out? I was eating about 700-800 calories a day, and several suggested that I move my calories up for a few days to see if it moves me out of my stall. So my whole day I have planned today comes out to about 950 calories, 118 g of Protein, 39 g carb.. With exercise, my net will be about 750. Where were you at 2 months out? What could you eat, what was your general amount of protein you could get in, and how many calories??

Take the time you need, I'd say, don't leave until you're sure you're good. I'm glad its not a leak, but hope whatever is causing the infection is taken care of QUICKLY.