reallyrosy

You said it!! Also, I will not miss going to the flight counter and hoping they don't ask me to buy another seat, and crying when I need an extension. I look forward to not needing to look at the weight limit for anything.
Also feeling more confident.

I would be ticked off, too. IMO, no one has the right to judge your personal medical decisions weather that judgement is good or bad, and you have the right to keep your personal medical issues--well--personal. No one talks about "being happy for you" when you go in for an appendectomy. It is not the talk of the Water cooler. When weight loss surgery is announced, however, everyone has an opinion and a comment. It is almost demeaning to have people comment in that way like they have the right or knowledge to have an opinion about something that you have been studying and learning about and living for a long time.
That being said, you do need to try to let it go. You can't unring the bell, and it could become an unneeded distraction for you if you focus too much energy on it. Sorry that happened to you. Try to forgive their ignorance and move on as quickly as possible.

I have been making this for a few days, I get 3-4 meals out of it.
1 Cup fat free ricotta
1 TBSP fat free/sugar free instant vanilla pudding mix
1 TBSP fat free half & half
blend in a blender till smooth.
I am going to try adding some almond extract or lemon juice or maybe some cinnamon.
Another that is good:
6 oz. fat free plain Greek yogurt
1 TBSP fat free/sugar free instant cheesecake pudding mix
Splenda to taste
stir together, tastes like a fluffy, creamy cheesecake

I for one can say I understand where your coming from. I am 6 days post op. My mom is having a cookout and while I am not envious that everyone else can eat. I know im going to want to and I can't still on Clear Liquids. I think this maybe part of the emotional hunger struggle that we go through. We can do it though I will keep you in mu thoughts...so know your not alone. (-:

Last week, my best friend and 2 godchildren (2 and 4) drove to Mississippi to visit my family.. I haven't seen any of them in person since November 2011... The 10 hour drive turned in 11 and a half... it's amazing how many times a 4 year old has to potty in the span of 3 hours!! Geez!!!.. Anyway I had numerous NSVs throughout my trip...

I can sleep comfortably in the passengar seat of my SUV... I also don't have to have the seat all the back to get things off the floor!!
I can buckle the seatbelt in the backseat of my truck!! (the new law in IL requires that all passengers wear a seatbelt...I couldn't fit it 3 months ago!!)
We stopped at Paula Deen's Resturant in Tunica, Ms... I looked around the buffet... sampled a few things and I was finished!! No stuffing myself and feeling miserable!! Oh, we were also able to get a booth.. which was very small.. go figure!!!...
When I made it home, my Mom and sisters were amazed!!
I was in Walmart and a family friend didn't recognize me!! (She may have been drunk though!!!)...
My favorite foods (catfish, dressing, mac and cheese and cake)... didn't tie me to the dining room table and jump down my throat this time...
I prepared my famous spaghetti dinner and a pot of chicken and dumplings... I didn't eat any Pasta, just sauce, I had 2 dumplings and plenty of chicken..
My best friend was doing laundry at my sister's house.. she washed "my jeans" and said they smelled like smoke... I was like.. HUH... she put the jeans on my bed afterwards.. I looked at them, they were my sister's size 14 jeans!! I was like.. girl!! She said, you're losing so much weight, I thought they were your skinny jeans or something!!

I'm still trying each day to follow the plan and stay on this road to complete wholeness and wellness... Redefining my relationship w/ food and ridding myself of people really don't get it are the two things that guide my daily agenda now... Surounding ourselves with positivity leads to confidence and victories won!!!

I bought clothes when I realized I couldn't walk around naked no matter how much I lost. 6 mos out and my wt loss is slowed to a few lbs every 2 weeks.the difference btwn smaller sizes isn't that great. I just haven't bought a full wardrobe...just a few things til the next big drop.

Id like to know more about you, too, alex. What motivated you to start this forum ? How long ago? How did you get out the word about it? Why did u choose to focus on sleeves? Where do u get your support? What are your plans for the future? Any thoughts about what to do with all the info already compliled here? C'mon, full confession time...inquiring minds want to know

Determination is a big part of th 'game'. Rootin' for ya

Who said "no restrictions on carbs"? You mean u eat bread and spaghetti and foods with sugar? I'm 6 mos out and haven't touched a complex or simple carb yet. That seems to be the most consistent advice...

I had a problem with a gym publishing an article @ me when I lost 128# several years ago (waaaay before being sleeved). I thought id be ok with it but the attention brought out the worst in me. I didn't gain it all back, but enuf to bring me to the point of being sleeved 6 mos ago.
Think it thru before you agree. Make sure you can take the attention...

Thank you for taking the time to post a well reasoned, well written, balanced message. It sure sounds like there is something salvagable from this mess I've gotten myself into. Would you mind sharing the fb sites that have helped? I ditched fb for many reasons but would reactivate to find these helpful forums.
I shared your msj with my niece, who is looking to become sleeved herself, and she too hopes this becomes something we can look forward to in our lives.
Thanks again!

Cut the fruit and see what happens. I'm not allowed any fruit at all. Just Protein and vegs.no potatoes or carrots either. That's theonly thing you andb I are doing differenly

Invisble woul be nice right now. Both to others and to my stupid critical eye. I don't like this. I lost the 1.8 and now at 50.8# at 11 weeks out. Everybody out there who saw me before: thanks for noticing, now shut up and let me deal with it.
Gah. Where's my atavan???

I teach adults. (kind of)

At 3 weeks out, I'm not feeling any real hunger, but a bit of head hunger. I do feel like I'm having to eat every few hours to simply get in enough calories, though.

Ive been doing that since I was a toddler because I don't like the texture of the fruit. Especially if it's been peeled and has those little strings on it. I never thought of it to be a problem though because it only happened with oranges/tangerines and it wasn't something I ate regularly.
Sent from my iPhone using VST

I am about 5 weeks out of surgery and I can't seem to control my head hunger. I'm really worried. I've given in a couple of times but mostly I try to wait at least 3 hours between meals. I want to eat even when I am full and this is driving me crazy. I don't know what to do about it. I tried sugar free popsicles, but really nothing seems to work. Did anyone else feel this way? Does the head hunger get better/easier to manage? I'm at my wits end with this thing!

fluffylibra: You got a steroid shot for a heal spur? Sounds promising, I will have to make an appt with my PCP tomorrow. Thanks

Could u please say how to measure fat %? I finally broke the stall and lost a couple lbs but am holding this loss again. Looks like a new pattern developing. First a wild loss of 50 and then nothing since 2/18 and then 2 more and now holding. Just like you outlined. Am now 3x week trainer and 4hours pt and ot. Maybe that's what broke the stall? But WHY can't the doc give proportions for food? Fat/prot/carb? I'm the NO! Diet. And I still hate it.
Ps: what're you going to substitute for the wt loss obsession once you've attained your goal weight? Is this what is meant by change in life style....obsess differently?
Changing my handle to resident grump!

Oh, one last thing: it's very, very normal to plateau, and it's very, very normal to regain 5 or even 10 pounds (depends upon your frame; us bigger guys can gain 10 pounds as easily as you smaller gals can gain 5). When the weight gain starts getting into the 15 or 20 plus pound range, that's when something is going wrong in your weight loss, and I'd talk to your dietitian/nutritionist/doctor/personal trainer about it.

Say it with me now, folks: plateaus are a normal part of the process. Getting stuck is a normal part of the process.
I know... we don't want to hear that. I didn't want to hear that. I still hover anxiously near the scale sometimes, worried about every bleep and bloop on the number.
But the fact is that the typical weight loss of a sleever goes something like this:
A HUGE, exhilarating loss at first... it's almost effortless. You fart and the pounds come off. You eat good and the pounds come off. You eat BAD (which, you know, for a sleever in the early days means something like "well, last month I ate a cookie...") and the pounds come off.
The problem with this early phase is that it completely destroys our sense of what a "normal" weight loss and maintenance profile feels like. This early phase where the weight just drops off is not normal. It's great, but it's not normal.
Once you start getting down to what your body thinks its weight "should be" (it's actually a great deal more complicated than this; your body doesn't really have any idea what you "should" weigh, it's just that feedback mechanisms start to come into play and exert more force than the downward push from the sleeve) the loss will become slower and slower. And it isn't just a "steady" slowness; it's not like your body will go from 5 pounds a week to 3 pounds a week to a pound a week in a smooth progression. In fact, at times you'll plateau for days or weeks or even months (near the bottom end of the curve) at a time. At times your weight will even go up slightly (slightly: a prolonged and significant gain is usually a sign that something is wrong, whereas a 5-10 pound gain is typically a Water weight gain or a normal plateau fluctuation).
You can break through the plateau -- assuming that you're not already at the low end of body fat -- but it doesn't always happen when you expect it to happen -- sometimes you get stuck and then you cut your calories and up your exercise and nothing changes (or you even gain a little) for days at a time, and then when you give up, suddenly your body starts shedding weight again.
And finally when you start getting down near or below the low end of normal body fat (for most of us, it seems like this is around 20% body fat; fat location along with factors such as age and genetics seems to determine your "realistic minimum body fat"), shedding every ounce is a lot of frigging hard work, every day, forever. Most of us have a hard time keeping up that level of dedication (else we wouldn't have been obese to begin with), so most people seem to stick around 25%-ish bodyfat, which is still technically overweight (and of course, those of us who are very self-critical will harass ourselves mercilessly over that fact) but is, in fact, much healthier than the 40%, 50%, or even 60% body fat that some of us started with. Indeed, it's healthier, on average, than most modern Americans!
The real problem is that early phase, where weight loss was effortless and we could do no wrong. It's sad to say, but important to remember, that that is not the norm. The sleeve continues to be a tool, and as long as you don't abuse it too bad, you can be pretty confident that you won't spiral back into that morbidly obese category. But it's not zero work, it's not effortless. You have to start really working it after a point, and the lower your body fat gets (remember: measure body fat, NOT weight -- weight can fluctuate by as much as 4 or 5 pounds *in a single day* due to Water weight changes) the more you're going to hit plateaus, of longer and longer duration, and maybe even see some backtracking. The great thing about the sleeve is that even if you gain a few pounds, unlike before you can be pretty confident that you can get rid of them pretty quickly with a little self-discipline.
Sorry for the long post, but it seems like a lot of people have sort of unrealistic expectations about life with the sleeve, and then whenever they see a blip on the scale they freak out and assume all is lost. It's not lost when you plateau or rebound a few pounds. It's completely normal.

The only thing u can miss is your own story because no one can write that for you. Take a deep breath, remind yourself what YOUR reasons are for having the surgery and then pull the plug on the puter. You'll be back in 2 wks with your own amazing observations of what happens during your surgery. Period. And I promise.

I was given a CPAP machine right after surgery. I tried to use it ONCE. Thankfully my husband said that I don't snore or gasp for air anymore. I sleep effortlessly through the night and awake refreshed.
I may never have another sleep study done. The first one was SO miserable. I can't adjust with all those wires on me, being monitored and in a strange place. I'd do it to get the machine if I needed it, but not to get rid of it because I sort of already have. I stuffed it in the closet.

Also, I know tha Oxford insurance is pretty much stopping sleep studies done in the labs. There are now machines that can do the sleep studies at home in the comfort of your own bed with no creepy cameras on you all night long. For some of you that may be a better alternative to going into a lab for a night or two.

IMHO there is no comparison. I had 3 c-sections and they were all open incisions. This surgery was done laprascopy and to me the incisions felt like ant bites. My pain was minimum but there are others who have had more pain. Everyone is different. As I stated earlier, the most pain I had was a sore throat from the ng tube.