Reputation from decamom

decamom got a reaction from papercliphip in How long do you wait between bites? August 21, 2017

When I was newly sleeved and eating solids, I often gave my self terrible chest pain from eating too fast. I went to a game store and bought a two minute egg timer. Hourglass type thing. I think it was$2.50. Then, I would take a bite and turn the timer over. When the sand had all gone to the bottom...time for another bite. This was a huge help and relief to me. Sometimes I took a bite, went and did something else and then came back to see if the sand was down yet! No more worries that I was eating too fast.
Living the dream!
Laura

decamom reacted to Miss Mac in I really need your help guys. Please! May 29, 2015

With your next meal, then go for a walk or put on some loud crazy music and groove to the music.
Get the crap edibles (can't call them foods) out of the house. Don't watch cooking shows for a while.
If I could give only one piece of diet advice, it would be "Don't eat anything made in a factory."
When you get up, stay out of the bedroom. Resist all day TV and becoming part of the sofa. Open up the window shades and let the sunshine in. When the outside temp becomes comfortable for you, take advantage of it and find reasons to be outside. We have a large back yard, and last year I set up a fitness trail for myself. Get a dog. Play with it and take it for long walks. The Vitamin D sunshine that you absorb will help perk up your mood.
As with any formidable task that is inconvenient but necessary, eliminate excuses one by one.
Want to eat crap? Don'y have crap in the house or stand by a vending machine.
Too tired to exercise? Your body is a living machine designed for movement. It will resist you like a toddler who just learned the word NO. But once you start exercising, your body will thank you by giving you more energy to get through your day. Then, you will be tired enough to sleep better.
Don't have time to exercise? Quit hitting the alarm clock. Get up and follow along with one of the gajillion 5 minute work-outs on Youtube. This morning I did a stretch and toning video - 4 minutes - helped to wake me up.
Make a list of what is holding you back, and find creative ways to get around it.
Chirp up, dear. You have friends here who understand what you are going through. Hugs.

decamom got a reaction from wanna38 in Liver issues after surgery anyone?? July 18, 2013

I was sleeved in May 2011. I am down 65+ pounds and very happy with my sleeve. It is my best friend in the weight loss world! My liver numbers were just fine before I had surgery. Afterwards, they were off the charts. Over the last 6 months I have been getting my blood checked almost monthly to check on the downward progress. They have come down but are still elevated. My GI doc is concerned and I am having another ultrasound next week. Looking for sludge or stones or something. He said that if my numbers get to 120, he will want a biopsy. I am around 50-90 now . 20-40 is normal. The numbers have gone up in the past month Anyone else have any experience with this? I had my sleeve surgery and then 9 days later had to go back and have my gall bladder out. We think my issues may stem from medication injury as the anesthesia (twice) and then alot of vicodin (that didn't help my pain) may have overloaded my poor liver. I dont' drink now and never have been much of a drinker. Just curious if anyone else has had any issues similar to mine.
Thanks my sleevie friends!!
Living the dream,
Laura

decamom got a reaction from Allie ALii in Before And After Gastric Sleeve Surgery Photos February 25, 2012

Me too me too....Pics are in my signature...
Laura

decamom got a reaction from sleeve 4 me in Super Saturday Weigh In January 8, 2012

Feeling bloated and weighing in at 142 this morning. I haven't felt well all day. I am not going to freak out. We will see what next Saturday brings. What freedom to not get on the scale every day. I did go shopping yesterday and found some clothes (business casual) for my upcoming internship...all size small tops!! Whoo Hoo! No complaints there! Down from a 1X!
Living the dream!,
Laura

decamom got a reaction from qdh in Super Saturday Weigh In December 28, 2012

I weighed in today and discovered I was at goal!!!!! Yippee!!! From 237 in Feb of this year to 140 in Dec! I love my sleeve!!!!
Totally living the dream!!,
Laura

decamom reacted to ouroborous in Weight Gained Since Having Gastric Sleeve Surgery June 4, 2012

I hear you and I definitely share your frustration. Now that I'm much closer to the end of my weight loss journey than the beginning of it, I'm pretty much ALL plateaus. Technically I still have about 19 pounds to lose to be at a "normal" bodyweight, and my current goal is about 14 more pounds (I weighed in at just over 216 today, and I'd like to get to around 200-205, which would make me still overweight, but only just barely, according to the BMI charts). That being said, my body fat % is at about 20% and dropping, which is, frankly, pretty damn good for an American guy in his (early) 40's who works at a desk job, especially when you consider that my BMI was nearly 45 before I started (I have no idea what my body fat percentage was, but I'm sure it was just a horror show).
I know that these last 15 pounds are going to be harder to lose than the first 120+ pounds were put together because my body is now in a constant fight with me over every single calorie, and the level of dedication required to "get there" is such that I am almost having to completely reinvent who I am as a person in order to even try to hit my goal. But the nice thing is that with the sleeve, I know I at least have a shot at it. Before the sleeve, no way Jose.
But it wasn't all wine and roses on the way down, either. I hit a mini-plateau at around 250 where I thought "well, that's it, I'm done. I'm still obese, and I can't lose any more weight." This stall lasted several weeks, if I recall. I tried everything I could think of -- more Water, less Water, more Protein, less carbs, the "pouch reset," more exercise... everything. Nothing made a difference. And then, right on the tail end of a vacation (where I wasn't eating great -- I was on vacation! -- and I even had some beer), I get home and BAM... 10 pounds gone. And then it just started melting away again, without me seeming to change much of anything. What changed? Who knows... some complicated internal body chemistry thing; I wasn't anywhere NEAR "goal," but for some reason, right around 250 lbs, my body suddenly freaked out and said "MUST... STOP... LOSING... WEIGHT!"
Bottom line is that you have to have a little faith. The faith is, for me, in science and statistics: if you do the right things (be mindful of your eating, try to drink enough water, try to move as much as you can, get good sleep, etc.) and have patience, you WILL get down to at or near a "normal" BMI... eventually. It may not happen today, and it almost certainly won't happen as fast as you want. But it WILL happen, so you might as well not freak yourself out over it in the meantime. If you're still not there and you hit a plateau or gain a couple back, do a quick reality check -- am I doing the right things? Am I eating right? Am I moving (exercising) enough? Is my diet more slanted towards Protein and complex carbs than simple carbs? If that's all in order, then it's just "one of those things," and it's better to just let it go and (try to) focus on all the good things your weight loss has already given you.

decamom reacted to ouroborous in Weight Gained Since Having Gastric Sleeve Surgery June 4, 2012

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.

decamom got a reaction from Allie ALii in Before And After Gastric Sleeve Surgery Photos February 25, 2012

Me too me too....Pics are in my signature...
Laura