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Choose the path that fits today. We’ll take you to the most useful discussions.
- GLP-1 medication Zepbound, Wegovy, access, side effects, progress, and support.
- Before surgery Compare procedures, plan ahead, and get honest pre-op answers.
- Post-op Recovery, food stages, symptoms, and support.
- Long-term Regain, labs, habits, and life after the honeymoon.
- Revision Explore revision options, complications, and next steps.
Everything posted by Pookeyism
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Journaling
Thank you for the reminder!
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High Protein Frappuccino Recipe
They have a sugar free kahlua syrup??? OMG!
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Driving
I could have drove in less than a week out, but opted to avoid being in a car as much as possible. I read an account (iffy, I couldnt trace it to the source but neverless) of a fender bender that sent a woman back to the hospital with a sizeable leak. It kinda stuck in my mind. A week post op my Mom passed away and that was a whole other situation and I began to feel bad again fast, so I felt too distracted to drive. I drove once my second week out, out of necessity. Beyond that I waited till my 3rd week.
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First Night Post Op
It is good to know you aren't in any pain. Don't forget to walk (assisted) tonight and get the extra gas out! Keep us informed. Have a good (pain free yay!) Night.
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No Excuses
It is possible to not realistically be able to be at 150 and have the muscle mass you want to be at. If I were at 10% BMI and have the mass I had in high school, I would be way over 150. But I trained for bulk muscle. But I know what you mean - my high school days are over. I haven't even set a weight yet. My sister is up to (!) a size 9 (she was always underweight and I was always over)and she is two inches shorter than me and weighs about 180, so who knows.
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Darn - It's Stil Going To Be Liquids For Awhile.
I have been trying to transition to mushie from liquids for awhile now. I thought I had it down but I think I need to stay at solids/thick Soups and such. I will try, get one or two or three meals in, and then I will be really uncomfortable and have stomach pain. The end of my fifth week will be this Wednesday. Grrrr!
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Sabatoge Or Love
People can do things without meaning to, but when someone brings you cupcakes knowing what they do, then yes you have to ask some questions - it sounds very passive aggressive to me. The main thing is to be assertive - I recently had an aquaintance throw away a dozen cupcakes her hubby brought in and he said "why did you do that?!" and she said "because I told you I would". he had bringing "treats" in for himself - not the two or three cupcakes he would have ate, and not putting them somewhere she would not need to come across - but a dozen or more, and on the counter near her foods. So she stepped up and threw them out - opened the box and dumped them into the trash. We can't compromise on ourselves, and we cannot allow others to do so either. Nope. Nada. shhhh. don't argue. Good luck.
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Starting Mushies A Few Days Early?
After what I have went through and was doing exactly what I should (I wasn't even trying mushies yet). I definately would not do that. Order tea and explain you have a delicate stomach today, etc. or explain nothing and just drink your tea.
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Normal!
I will probably cry when I get there - I know I will Cry when I hit onderland. Congradulations. Enjoy your cry - it is not a bad cry!
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My 23Rd Day After Surgery What Did You Guys Eat On This Day ?
thick protien drinks only -I had a bit of a setback at that time...
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Insentive Boyfriend
Not sure what to say about it. I wouldn't do anything u don't feellike doing and definately would not let anyone make you got a fast food place...just how did he overule you? Sorry it just get my hackles up when I hear something like that. I am not particularly diplomatic when I feel my needs are being overlooked, lol. I probably would have told him see u later going to panera!
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Scale Victories...sweet :)
Absolutely! one thing at a time. You are doing great!
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Favorite Blender?
The Blender Bottle is awesome for mixing your powders - I suggest getting the actual blender bottle brand - the lid is stay-tight and the flip lid "pops" into place and should not leak as you mix. For a blender I just asked and Hubby says he thinks the magic bullet works well but he uses a food processor for my mushies, and often strains some of the ingredients ahead of time. A juicer is a good thing to have too. I think if you do not have alot of equipment (my hubby is a foodie who's hobby is cooking - we have a "good eats" kitchen). a Baby Bullet would be pretty cool - it is from the same people as Magic Bullet but has some additional pieces that lends itself to making small portions - and little storage pieces. I wanted one so bad, lol.
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An Impossible Dichotomy...
In hindsight I find myself thinking about all the time - all of my adult life, all of my teenage years, most of my childhood, I have fought my fat. I have gone out and played harder, ate less, denied minding that I couldn't wear what some of the other kids were wearing (which would actually be true as I entered my high school years). I became strong and fit (for my size) as I also became a f@%k you kid with an attitude and patient yet short fuse... I had feelings but never felt them, I had friends and never cared. I became a great artist. I am really good at alot of things. I have two degrees and I am on the dean's list going for my third. I am who people come to when something needs fixing - and no one had a clue how desperate I was to fix myself. Only in the last few years do I think my Hubby even knew. My sister knew, and tried to help - and finally understood she could nox fix me. Frustrating for her, horribly frustrating for me - I never wanted my Sister to ever have a bad day - especially if it were my doing. I could go on and on but I think the main point is that I lived for over 30 years in a state of semi-misery, while being truly happy, successful, and able to extend myself to friends and hobbies and a healthy marriage. I watched my weight fluxuate and I tried harder and sometime not so hard. I avoided all the fad diets - I had educated myself too much and knew what it would do to my muscle mass. Yet I really wanted to try them - you want to believe anything you hear first-person. It's just so easy to say "so-n-so did it". I can quilt because my Granny taught me - I can sew clothing because I was going to wear what I wanted to wear - so I learned to recreate what I saw in the mall windows. I never let anything get in my way - except I did - or did I? That is the thing I think I need to come to grips with most - even as I lose the weight now, I am finding slips of thought finding it's way in. I will never know if I could have done it "myself". If I could have unraveled my own Gorgon Knot - but then I did, right? On hell-bent swipe of a sword and I am doing it. Dichotomy! Damn! Damn...
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Halfway Home!
That is awesome!
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Post-Op Weight
I am weighing myself 1x a week, and once I am past onderland I am going to weigh less often, because I suspect the loss will slow down. I will be weight training to actively build bulk muscle as soon as I can get the OK to put that much core pressure on my tummy. This is always a good move for me because I am built to have bulk muscle - I have never been a lean muscle kinda girl. I also want to get back into some different sports I have only been able to play around with on occasion while I was so heavy. Bulk training tends to even out and sometimes push your weight up a little, so less focus on scales and more on baggy clothes for me after awhile longer.
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What/how Much Are You Eating In The Mushy Phase?
You asked for a list! Hmmm... Blue Bell bullet style sugar free popsicles potatoes, to mash (sour cream to mash) chicken broth tobiko caviar (absolutely full of Omega 3's and it is really good in the mash, broth and stand alone. salmon (get this fresh from a really good grocer) tuna - whole, solid hummus cream of anything soup chopped mushrooms - to make a puree protien drink mixes almond milk real, whole milk (we get ours from a local dairy and hubby skims and makes his own butter - it is sooo nice) There is more but it's 5:30 in the AM and I am wore out, lol. We have always been strong on trying local foods and humanely kept meats but now we are focusing on it more and I can say it is so worth it. I can't wait to be able to go to the local farmers markets and do samll sample tastes again - especially now that I seem to want more veggies than ever. PS - venison is a most forgiving red meat. Ditto for lamb. I can hook you up with the best lamb (we are in Houston for now but we have an organic lamb farm in TN). Hope I didn't break any rules there, lol.
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What/how Much Are You Eating In The Mushy Phase?
After a bit of a setback and I had to stay on liquids for awhile longer (I had death a week post op and the crying and stress and getting sick on the return flight home made for a very, very upset and painful sleeve) I am progressing to mushies from the land of the liquids. I have tried a very mushed poached egg, some cooked potatoes (a combo of a pinky pink, a piece of a true blue a chunk of sweet and a valley white). I like the potato option and we add extra protien. It doesn't add much but it allows me to have real food. Potato is considered a near perfect food. If you eat a mash made of different colors and varieties, you are getting in at least a little of alot of different trace minerals, AND you are getting all the benefits of potato. No one has told this to me, but I figure if I have at least a little potato each day while I am test driving a still very iffy tummy then make sure I am still drinking protien drinks, then I can vary it as I am comfortable. I am in no rush! I have no intentions of ever eating fast food again. I rarely indulged as is and I feel like I am in the position to just stay away from all of the crap food. I don't see them as treats anymore. Or maybe I should say I see them as "treats" as a cutter would see the cuts on her belly or thigh as a "treat". It is the same at this point, especially since we have no excuse not to understand what they put in those foods.
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Anyone Have Things Stuck In Their Throat
It seems like it is a good possibility. I would say as soon as you can discuss with your doctor if this is expcted or a complication - and schedule a second opinion and endoscopy. My Mom had a scar that thickened in her esophgus and another in her stomach. I have strong reason to think it had something to do with her passing away (esophageal embolism, most likely).
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When People (Friends,family ,relatives ) Think You Took The "easy Way" With Wls ( Rant)
I agree after all that it is probably better you not associate with her - but for her good also. WLS is definateltly not an easy way out, but also not accessible to everyone and I do think there is a real possibility we can be a bit if a detrement to someone's progress if they have had prior issues (like her eating disorder). It isn't that we are at fault, but I have seen alot of sour grapes/sweet lemons reactions to WLS. There has to be some evaluation of where the comment came from, and why - and then (or perhaps before) decide if it even matters. You can't fix people, and some are just not emotionally valuable enough to try to help them see why it was right for you have WLS. I told one person who asked "why are you convinced it is the only way out" - I asked her if I had come across like that and she said, "well, I just assumed that you had to be desperate to have surgery". So I think we both caught each other off guard. I would have never gave up my yoga and increasingly better eating habits, etc. I would have always tried - just like I have the last 33 years of my life, so I don't know if I felt desperate but I did feel like I had exhausted all other options. From her point of view surgery somehow seems more drastic than being hungry everyday (and for me it was EVERYDAY) for months and even years at a time...I feel like the way I had to go to even maintain a large size was a horrible thing to endure. WLS preparation and expense and everything is nothing compared to the constant state of hunger. I may have answered a rant with a rant - lol. Sorry!
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Ignorance Is Not Bliss
I think we have arrived upon the point that people are being "milled" through this surgery. So many people are doing minimal requested from insurance or is not asked to do much of anything if they self pay. The first doc I originally chose "encouraged" a list of things to do but did not enforce it if it wasn't required through insurance. This is more of a problem than it sounds - the people who come into it unprepared and loose then gain it back contribute to long term studies too - so it makes the surgery look much less successful long term than it can really be. The same people get on here and go "I did this and was ok" or "I eat this and (fill in overinflated positive result)" etc, and people read it and go "they did it" and again etc...it goes on and on. Grrrrrr!
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Emotional Eating, Thy Name Is Lyra
I have done several exercises geared to acknowleding my emotional eating. I think the biggest step is affirmation of your emotional eating habits, then ownership of your choices and no matter what avoid the overeaters anon that tells you to say crap like " I am helpless". You aren't helpless. Another thing is to take a stress management class, and learn how to deal with stress BEFORE it becomes emotional, and then emotional eating. Good luck Sweetie! It's hard - make sure you have a grip on it BEFORE surgery - WLS will not fix this - and you can find yourself dropped into the heart of stress eating with no notice (my Mom passed away unexpectedly a week post op and I had to fly from Houston TX to Appalachian Mts. VA to take care of everything.) If talking will help you are so very welcome to message me. I am not an expert, I am just offering to lend an ear.
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Anyone Have Things Stuck In Their Throat
That sounds more like an esophageal hernia, or maybe even a scarification (sp) constriction. Hmmm - allergy or stress enduced constriction? It sounds like you need an endoscopy. Please keep us informed. I have you in my prayers.
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Sf Jello
yup! but still chew it up! I am eating sfj right now, lol!
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I Am No Longer Diabetic!
Knowing so many people are fighting back and winning against diabetes makes me so aware of how blessed we are. Congradulations to US ALL, and thank you to all who support us - it is very important to have support when you are a diabetic. I am proud to be able to Celebrate every time my hubby sees me testing my BG level and goes? Normal? And I say - very!