Chimera

Going to start my C2K tomorrow as well - I am going to start with a plan that begins with a 5k walk to start as I have wicked arthritis, and see how things go from there. I would love to run and have an app for my phone once I build up a bit of stamina. I am praying my knees cooperate Hubby and I also start Water aerobics once my new swimsuit arrives - I dont think I have bought one of those since I was a teenager and am a bit mortified at the thought of actually putting one on in public lol. here's to scary new activities

With two Vsg's in the house we have so many different forms of Vitamins that they have their own cabinet - way more than any food or condiment (even with the amount we used to eat) I swear i have tried everything - what seems to work for me is switching it up. I took Bariatric Advantage everything for a long time, until the thought of another berry chewable Vitamin made me very sad. (that french vanilla flavor - whoever invented that has a special spot in he** lol.) We have liquid vitamins, chewables, capsules - I was soooo excited when cleared to take bariatic capsules at 3 months post surgery, only to find they make me violently sick - my husband can take all three at once and feel just fine. We have drinks - am drinking an ENS chocolate milk with 25 g Protein and multivits as I type - not bad - Celebrate has some good stuff. Some of the vitamin drinks (we have ones by Celebrate and Bariatric Advantage) are good as well but you constantly have to shake them so they dont settle and get 'sandy' - blech. I have calcium tablets, chewies, liquids - a different form for just about everything I also use gummy Fiber supplements, magnesium tabs, etc - the laxative/bowel supplement area is very well stocked as well My best advice is to try a lot of different things - sometimes I am just too queezy (sp) for caps or bariatric chewables so I do drinks, liquid vitamins, and gummies - other times it is just fine. Both of our recent 6 month labs were splendid - though hubby could up the calcium a wee bit, and I was a bit low on potassium. Plus mixing it makes things more interesting, if we have to take these things for life might as well make it more interesting right?

I was a serious binger - the surgery has helped tremendously! I do get head hunger and can eat more now that I am further out from surgery but it simply is not physically possible to eat the way I used to. I still tend to put waaay too much on my plate - so measuring is my friend. Tracking my food, liquids, meds, Vitamins, exercise etc help keep things on track. Honestly I feel so much better emotionally that the urge to stuff is very faint - and honestly, if I want to feel over stuffed like i always used to when I would eat - I just need to eat a couple of extra bites of chicken or brocolli now, a much healthier state of affairs

Made it Goal was to be 200 or less - still hanging in at 198. Folks are not kidding when they talk about losses slowing down at 6+ months, that coupled with an out of town visit to family (aka the land of baked carbs) it can really put the tool to the test. My husband made a good point - normally at this time of the year we would be at least 10 lbs or more up, and climbing - we have both stayed the course and maintained and lost a wee bit with the holiday challenges. I'll take it! here's to being more active and making healthy choices in 2013 - cant wait to see where we will be next New Year's eve

My husband and i had our surgeries in May and are doing great! My husband has gone from 318 to 189 currently (we had the same starting weight yikes lol.) and I am inching towards goal. I can't say enough good things about the folks at Swedish WL - You guys should go to the support group meetings which meet every second saturday of the month - I am hoping to make melsue's acquaintance soon Best of luck you guys - it can sometimes be a bit rocky after surgery but it is soooo worth it.

Hang in there hun - I felt like hell for what felt like forever and did not start to perk up until I was close to 7 weeks out. My husband is the poster child for smooth sailing after surgery and he had had no issues. I bled internally and had to have multiple blood transfusions that kept me in the hospital for a week, then i get home and an incision opens and i am bleeding everywhere and it would not stop - so back we go the the Er later that night - just about all drinks and foodtasted like a** - when I could eat i vomited - i felt like I was dying of thirst, it was hell getting my liquids and Protein in, I had an acute flare of osteo-arthritis and I literlally could not stand for two weeks. I could go on and on lol. Oooh I was miserable and I would not trade one second of it - it was worth every bit of misery Hang in there - you will start to feel better eventually. From your ticker you don't look like you have far to go. My husband went from 318 in May to 189 currently, and i am inching my way toward goal.

6.5 months and I shoot for 600-800

Hahaha great post title

Don't worry - do the best you can. I think the pre-op diet is much harder than post-op - when you actually dont want to eat anymore

Thanks you guys! I am pretty happy - I am not one of those to take things like this for granted, it has not been easy and has been hard fought. Pook and grammy since my husband and I had vsg's done two weeks apart - he is right at goal (weighs 185 - was 284 at surgery, and 318 like me at his highest) and he is a terrible junky eater. Every day I am present with this - writing everything down, tracking, I go to all of the support group meetings - he does not - I was the one who did all the research, buys the foods, supplements, makes the appts, etc. He started buying pretty bad stuff (hi processed carbs)and I got angry with him and told him to keep the junk away from me - as our cupboards and fridge are sacred and only for for healthy Proteins, fats, fruits and veggies - and loads of Vitamins, and various bariatric goods. He snapped right back with it and is back on the program. I had a little foray into straying from the food plan in Septemeber - it tasted good at the time - then made me feel sick and took forever to get it out of the house - because we cant eat stuff very fast lol. He knows we are both addicts with food - and the price is too high to go back to our old ways. He certainly feels too good - he struts around like a rooster now, and he looks great I am still trying to wrap my mind around how huge the changes with myself are - clothes that were snug in May, I cant even wear anymore. I have had people at work look at me as if I was a stranger - until i realize after the fact that they actually dont recognize me lol. thank you for the reading sugestion - I will pick that up. both of you have been inspirations to me on this board - thank you for sharing your wisdom and light!

I'm so sorry With my insurance and my work schedule it took 13 months when all was said and done. Don't give up! it takes time but it will be worth it and the long wait will be but a memory.

Don't worry - some of us lose slower than others - we all have different patterns. I am coming up on month 7 post surgery - had a month long stall in Sept and am coming off another one now - I am not losing as fast as I would like either but the trend is always down. Before surgery it was always up, settle, then you are up some more until you I was shocked and dismayed - all the way to 318 lbs. Its the trend over time - 2 years it often takes to get it off - according to statistics.

Woo - almost got the camera haha. I have been hanging around the same weight for a couple of weeks and its starting to move again. It has been a very long time since I hav been below 200 - probably 17 years or so. For the first time in my life I feel like I will actually get to where I want to be - that I wont fail again. This sleeve is the best durned thing EVER! woo 100's!

The nutritionists at my surgeons office whom I spent a lot of time with during the year that I prepared for my surgery always say the same thing - "There are no essential carbohydrates, period." They prefer us ketogenic - that it is the bodies optimum and preferred fuel. When I eaat this way I drop weight like crazy and feel great, when i dont, well I ended up 318 lbs and not well at all.

Getting all my fluids in will always be a struggle I think - I resort to having Protein Soup to up both liquid and protein grams. I just try to do the best I can - tracking helps keep me aware. I was totally freaked when I had my first stall - now i am well into my second - I really wish I had started taking measurements from the beginning - even though the scale is hanging out at the same spot - my body is changing drastically, so much so that I have gone from wearing pants last May that were a snug 2X to just ordering a standard medium - I still am having trouble actually wrapping my mind around that one lol. My husband made me order them because I have shrunk right through the XL pants I just bought - he couldnt find me in the grocery store yesterday because now I look like everyone else he says - but my big baggy clothes make me look like a hobo haha! A medium - and I have about 60 lbs more to lose to hit the upper end of a healthy BMI range for my height @ 5'3" - crazy.

One of the top predictors of long term success with WL is tracking your food/exercise etc. I weigh myself daily - I no longer am swayed if I am at the same weight for a while, as the trend continues downward - work through those stalls. I track calories, Protein, carbs, fat, and Fiber. I also keep track of my liquid intake, my Vitamins, meds (very few now) - I do have a myfitnesspal login but I use good old paper journals, and track exercize/walking with Runkeeper. Carbs and Water consumption seem to have the most significant impacts on how I feel, and how much I lose. I am a pound and a smidge from Onederland - a place I have been hanging out at for a couple of weeks (also a serious set point from my long ago past) Looking forward to seeing a 1 in front, rather than a 2...waay better than the 3

walk, walk, walk - sip,sip, sip

Save that hard earned quit - it only gets easier the longer you go. I'm serious! I smoked 1-2 packs a day for 28 years and quit November 1, 2010 and have not had one puff since. Go see your Dr.they can help you - smoking now would be not good.

I am still contemplating this one - number one reason that I may decline is that I have not yet reached my goal. For me - that is really, really important - as it is something I have never attained with WL in the past. It is a reason i dont post in progress, or befores here either - I want that really crazy before/after thing to be going on (well it is already, but the next 60-65 lbs will show an insane change.) My before pics are so incredibly unattractive that anything is better than those haha.

That is great! You should come to the support group meetings - I go to the Saturday meetings and I always get something valuable. I think those folks at Swedish are the best

What is different is it is virtually impossible to overeat - yes there are certain slider foods that we all can get in a bit more of than normal - but I keep a close eye on that practice. I am as interested in changing my body chemistry and its reaction to nutrients (i.e. very limited processed carbs, high Protein, Fiber,etc.) as I am in losing my excess weight. Honestly - I am not as hungry now, yes i do feel hunger but I cannot use food the way that I did pre-surgery AT ALL. It would simply be physically impossible. After going through a year of prep - laying on the table and having most of your stomach surgically removed - well that seems to do something big to change one's mindset At least it did for myself and my dear husband. You experience success so rapidly that it is almost unthinkable to turn your back on yourself again, after this commitment. My husband said it well the other night (he also had a vsg and is down 130+ since May) - that it is a relief to not always be thinking about when my next meal is and if I will get enough in. I quit smoking after 28 years of 1-2 packs a day, this feels like the same kind of freedom. I never thought I would beat this - ever. Now I am - slowly but surely. And it s a darned good tool that is permanent. It is a transformational tool - it is night and day from pre-surgery to our lives post.

The title says it all - I immediately start fretting that I am not at goal so i cant do a commercial - then on to I need tooth whitening strips, to get some self tanner and some clothes that actually fit haha. I will let you guys know how it goes. My hubby will most likely be in it as well (though I have not told him yet haha) he's down 130+ lbs. since his own VSG two weeks before my own and is right at goal - waaaaay soooner than we ever expected. If we do end up doing this i will be sure to post a link. Here is my surgeon's new site: http://www.swedishweightloss.com/

/eyes the deliscious grapes suspiciously...haha Pookey, I will always think of that now when considering grapes - not too much of an issue in the fall winter when they arent in season but they are one food that I tend to like a little too much

Hmmm at 5 weeks out I was 23 lbs down - after gaining 20 in the hospital from fluids and post-op shenanigans. I am not the fastest loser by any means but look at the stats in my ticker now - it adds up. Edit: I am coming up on 6 months post -op. There is no way in the world I would ever have been able to lose this much this fast without the sleeve - and know that it is staying off. Look at the trend over time - that is where the rubber meets the road.

The whole starvation things is a myth. Your body will only hang onto everything when it has no more fat to burn - Google it - there are tons of scientific studies on it. Best method to get that fat to burn is to be in ketosis - which is why bariatric diets are pretty much universally high protein/low carb. Stalls happen - and they mess with our heads because we are doing everything we should be doing and the scale is not moving...just keep doing what you should be doing as per your NUT's orders and you will lose. Our bodies drop weight in a variety of patterns - rarely is it a straight and steady line graphing downward, my own patterns is more of a stair step very much linked to my cycle. Trend over time is where those losses really add up. I stalled hard for a month when I was 5 months post-op, eventually the scale started moving again - during that time my body really changed - suddenly I was swimming in all of the smaller sizes I had just bought. I personally try and follow the common post op rules of 600-800 cals per day - 60-80 g protein, 64+ oz water, and carbs 40g or under - or as low as I can get them