BrownDoesAll

I'm sure we've talked about this before, please help refresh my memory. Will water retention settle in your knees and cause knee pain? I've increased the amount of water lately and this is the first time in a very long time I"ve experienced really bad knee pain. I always walk with a good pair of shoes, they have good arch support. I wear a pedometer and my Saturday life style has me at 9000 steps easy. I've not had knee pain since my surgery in 2011.. Yesterday I was in lots of pain!!.. I think its related to water retention. Do you agree and if so what a good way to combat water retention?

I have been following the 5:2 plan for eating, and recently shed 2 pounds. Strange experience.. I had a great fast day on Friday.. Fast days are not really hard for me, when I'm at work. I stay so busy time goes by and cups of green tea or crystal light get me through until the one meal for diner. If I get hungry before that I eat a salad with a bit of protein. The strange part was the next day. Saturday is typically a shopping day for my daughter and I. We simply love the malls and shopping.. or just looking for things we'd like to buy. Recent trips have been to find a dress for a 50th wedding anniversary I am hosting for my favorite Aunt and Uncle. Normally I put on my sneakers (gym shoes) and can walk and walk and walk. I wear a pedometer daily my normal step count is about 5000 steps a day (I am an IT manager and typically sit at my desk most days) but on Saturdays I typically average 9000 steps easy with no problem. However this Saturday I was in pain, total agony after 5,000 steps. My knees were killing me!! I could not explain the reason for the pain. I had not felt like that since before the surgery in 2011 when I weighed 330 pounds. I've not had knee pain for over two years I'm not sure what caused that.. I can only attribute it to water retention in my knees. Still I will forge on. More determined than ever to get under 200 pounds. Making my goals 10 pounds at a time. .

MrsFullerRN, I'm going to ask what I hope is not a stupid insensitive question. Didn't you know about this part of the process before you signed on the dotted line? I'm going to assume you did and are now just panic'd face with it right in front of you. Relax.. you can do it. just think about the end result. this is the time when you must use the your head strength and your mind over matter part of your brain. An all liquid diet is not easy.. I'm not gonna lie.. But its well worth it.. Think about the new you , that you want to see when this is all over.. Now is the time to begin to gain control over food and not let food control you. You had the strength to choose this process, and I bet you have the strength to make the journey. Relax you can do it

I am an "in your face, no holds bar person" so my advice is to sit her down, when its just the two of you and tell her how you feel. Tell her how it makes you feel when she comments. If she continues, I would ignore her. Let her deal with her own issues and not make them yours. I have a cousin that is very envious of my weight loss. She says I took the easy way out.. (ohh. that made me really mad)). I ignored her for a very long time, then finally had to say something when I purchased some really nice jeans that I looked pretty good in.. and she said " Oh you think your cute" and I said.." Why yes I do".. She commented about not going out to diner with me because I don't eat anything. That's when I finally sat her down and we had a heart to heart. She didn't realize how her comments made me feel until I told her. Since she and I are really close ( as I am sure you and your friend are close).. She was able to reign in her negative comments. My advice, sit her down and have a good heart to heart.

DreamBig.. took 2 years.. wow!! DangerousD.. yes.. my time was really long.. I had to do the 6 months pre-op diet for my insurance then took an extra 2 months to get the surgery actually scheduled. Sorry the time didn't really fly by.. But I did take that time to get prepared. Read lots of post on this forum and got the foods ready that I would eat in the first few phases. I'll be really honest.. I had a couple of Good Bye items. I couldn't gain any weight during that time or my insureance wouldn't approve the surgery, so I didn't overdue it.. But shouldn't say this.. I did indulge just a tiny bit.. I was really looking forward to the procedure. Hang in there. your journey has begun.

My hair never fell out.. Not sure if I'm lucky.. I've also heard that Biotin doesn't work. You should focus on taking the vitamins prescribed by the NUT and your surgeon. B12 is critical after surgery. To be honest, yes.. I lost a little in the breast area.. they didn't get too small.. but did go down a cup size. and they are a bit saggy. But still happy no longer a size 22.. the rest is all gravy

Gotta love sharing those NSV.. Keep 'em coming

Awesome!! How long did that take? I am really jealous.. You go girl!!

The decision to have the sleeve was fairly easy. After the research and reading and talking with the surgeon I was ready. the pre process for me took 8 months. 6 months of pre diet for my insurance, then wait time for the scheduled procedures and finally the surgery. By the time the surgery date rolled around I was more than ready. I had surgery in the past , and I knew what to expect. Once you get on the OR table your out like a light and when you wake up you don't even remember going to sleep.. The surgery itself was a breeze. There was some pain the very first day, but really not that bad. From there the journey began and almost 2 years later I'm still on it. It's a life time decision that I have never regretted. Good Luck!!

Having the procedure and following the plan you will lose weight. Losing weight will initially address the medical issues your facing. However, long term success, the procedure will give you a great tool, the rest of the journey to a happy healthy you..is all up to you.

Yep.. check with your NUT give her a list of the pureed foods your eating? Are you using protein shakes? How's your fluid intake.. What's an example day for you?

Love Tuna.. tried it yesterday YUM!! thanks for sharing

I agree with everyone. I also understand your trepidation. Having been sleeved for almost two years I am proud to day I have not gained any of the weight back. I believe the sleeve was the tool that helped me maintain my surgery weight loss of 75 pounds. The sleeve gives me restriction and a reminder not to eat too much. My portion sizes at one time are a bit larger than at the beginning, but still smaller than pre-surgery and still smaller than most everyone in my family. I think the smaller stomach is always there to remind me of the journey. It's there to remind me to stay in control. Having said that. In almost two years, I've not reached my goal weight and am still trying to lose more weight. The surgery doesn't change our brains (wish it did). We must still be mindful of what we eat, when we eat, how often etc. Our bodies still have the ability to gain weight. We are in control. binge eating, grazing, too many bad carbs (in my case), sweets etc not controlled will cause us to gain weight. I think, like the others have said. the sleeve is the tool that should help you in your desire to get to and maintain a healthy weight as long as you add it to a true desire, plan and implement a healthy way of eating. Good Luck!!

Sleeved in Nov 2011 started at 330 now almost 2 years after I'm about 255. About a year back I sort of went into maint mode. Down to a comfy size 18 I was very content. I did want to go down one more pant size so I attempted to "diet" to lose more weight. I excersied, joined a gym ( URGH!! ) I so hate gyms, I so hate excersise. I bought the Wi Fitness Zumba Kit,, Did enjoy that for quite a while. My daughter and I really got into the dances. But as with most things time gets in the way. Got home too late from work to get in a good zumba session before having to cook, eat diner and get the grandson ready for bed. Went back to the NUT she suggested a 3::2 way of eating.. Stick to 3 low carb high protein meals a day and only 2 snacks. Did that.. and careful tracking of everything I ate. Found that I had been snacking more than I realized. Eating the 3:2 way helped me stop the food grazing and gain some control. With that I did lose another 5 pounds,, which got me to 255.. Where I've been stuck again for many many months. I"ve recently stumbled on Intermittent Fasting (IF). yes another FAD.. but appears to be working. You basically eat normally ( what ever your normal is ) for 5 days and eat 25% less calories for 2 days called fasting days. I call them CONTROL days. Having done that for about 4 weeks the scale is moving in the right direction again. During the normal 5 days, I eat what I consider sleeve normal, low carb high protein with added veggies. Portion sized are larger than in the very beginning of the sleeve, but still smaller than most. I do track what I eat using my Fat Secret phone app and I can see I average between 1200 - 1700 calories a day for normal eating days. I've cut back on the snacks, but will admit to having the occasional bad snack a couple of times a week. Then on what I call CONTROL days ( Monday and Thursday) I don't eat until evening diner. Then its my normal chicken, fish, pork, minimal days beef, with hearty veggie, on occasion small amount of rice, or pasta, totals to about 300 cal meal. Followed by a power crunch bar (200 cals). The rest of the day I drink, typically hot green tea. there is science behind the IF way of eating.. Might very well be another FAD, but the theory is two fold. One of course obvious.. eating less calories 2 days a week, then you'll average out eating less calories for the week, resulting in weight loss. The other, not so obvious.. is making the body rest from eating for a length of time caused the body to " eat its on fat" for energy. Therefore I stop eating from 7pm on Sunday night and don't eat again until Monday night around 7pm, giving my body 24 hours of rest..hence the term Intermitting Fasting. MOnday would be considered my FAST day. I call it my CONTROL day. because that's the day I start off with a cup of protein hot chocolate, then control my urge to eat until my diner meal. If the urge to eat ( typically not hungry ) gets the best of me I eat a small salad. These days have helped me gain control over my grazing and junk food eating binges. So.. I'll be bloging on my goal to go down at least one more pant size. I'm on my way!!

Typically leg cramps are caused by lack of hydration. How far along in the process are you? No worries you wont stretch your stomach with water. It pretty much goes through you and doesn't stretch your stomach.Try to also lower the amount of salt in your foods. check sodium content of the soups. If you sip slowly and try to increase the amount of water you can get down at a time. Obviously don't push it.. or you'll get sick, Sip and drink slowly

Looking Great!!

In the beginning using the smaller fork helped me slow down. Eating too fast you don't realize your full until its too late, then you get sick. Eating too much will cause you to "bring it up", sometimes there is no stopping it. When you've done that a few times, you'll not want to repeat that and learn to slow down. Begin to actually savor your food , slow down, enjoy the flavors, enjoy the company (hopefully not eating alone). That's the best way to get through a restaurant meal. You'll only be able to eat a very small portion, while the rest of the party woofs down their large meals. When you've learned to savor and eat slow, and talk and enjoy the dining experience you'll finish your smaller portion around the same time they complete their larger portions. Good luck and stay strong.

Give it some time and try again. Not sure why, but our taste buds change over time and our tolerance to foods also change over time. Also remember to eat slow. My problem with soups was eating too fast. Once I learned to slow down tolerance was much better. In the case of French onion soup.. could have been the onions or the bread. Hang in there , it gets better.

Totally agree.. Tasting while cooking quickly becomes eating while cooking. Let's face it.. It's always sort of been eating while cooking. Hard habit to break. IN my case I began to count the number of tastes. Once is really enough, two taste max. Then moved down to no tasting. Good Luck

Grazing a bit too much. Reaching for food when you know you should be done for the day. How do you make yourself say no!! I try like Niki to " just say no " but its really hard. Try not to have bad stuff in the house. but even reaching for another piece of turkey at some point is too much. Gotta just say no!!

Chelsi congratulations on your choice to change your life. Sounds like your positive with a good attitude, you'll do great. Follow your NUTS direction and don't move past your stages before your allowed. Check out the Food and Nutrition section for other foods to eat during this stage. Above all eat slow and don't eat more then suggested. listen to your sleeve.

If I understand the question, your asking about drinking with food? You can not drink with food. You can drink either 30 minutes before you eat,, and wait at least 30 minutes after eating to drink again. When you do drink, in the beginning do not gulp, sip slowly, not with a straw, but sip slowly. Drinking too fast will cause pain. Sorry if that didn't answer your question.

Agreed.. Walk, slow . Don't drink

Hi Mel, Welcome. Hopefully your friend told you this was a good site to get advice and encouragement from people that are either in the same situation or have been there. I've never been banded, but have had a sleeve for 2 years. Thought I'm still working, it's been the best decision for my health. You stay positive and stay in touch, we are all in it together.

Sitting on an airplane without a seatbelt extender, getting up from the sofa quickly enough to catch a two year old, playing soccer in the backyard with a two year old, Not wanting to finish a full bag of chips !! just a few things