Webchickadee

Try LittleMissDiva's Boot Camp:

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/28139-the-basics-boot-camp/

Fantastic work! As with anything, no one starts at the 5 mile walk! I do a 3 mile walk every day at lunch, but I'm 10 months post-op and I started with a 1/2 mile walk that kicked my ass!

Momoanomo has some great advice about "mixing it up" during the session too. There is definitely truth in going hard core for short bursts......it makes your heart rate jump up and sweat (really feels good to get the sweat going!) and then going back to your pre-burst speeds feels "leisurely"!

I've just bought a road bike after 20 years of not riding a bicycle. Weather is too cold to ride yet (- 4 degree Celsius), but I can't wait! That will certainly get my cardio going, and work on building leg muscles like crazy too!

Just keep going and build on your success. In time you'll be rocking those long sessions and crazy workouts like a veteran!

I shop at Value Village every few weeks as I move between sizes. I have probably donated 20 bags of clothes in the past 10 months and bought 15 bags! Overall, a net drop (got rid of years of "fat" sizes I'd been saving).

It's crazy how much room I have in my closet now! I can actually see each shirt, pair of pants, etc.! And I'm ready to wear most of them now! I buy some that are a bit small (some deals just can't be passed up!), knowing they will fit in a couple of weeks. Other "favourites" get to be too loose or tent-like fairly quickly, and off they go to the donation pile!

I am much better dressed now, and spending 10% of what I used to! I could only shop in 1 store (Penningtons) as I was too big for the other "plus" size stores we have here in Canada (Additionelle, Laura Plus, etc.). I HATED having only 1 store to choose from.......if they didn't have something I like, and in my size (4-5 x or 26-28), I was stuck wearing the 2-3 shirts and pants I had. Terrible!

Now I have about 10 dress shirts, 6-7 pairs of really nice dress pants, some jeans, T-shirts, sweaters, etc. All from nice top quality brand names, and they all fit! I'm about a size 16 now, in most things. I depends on the style and brand. And I usually pay about $6-7 per item.........and often they are brand new with tags on still! I LOVE shopping now.

I didn't really try drinking any alcohol until I was 6 months post-op. I found I got roaring drunk from half a vodka cooler! I didn't like the feeling and it left me quite dehydrated. So I didn't drink after that until we went to an all-inclusive resort in January (9 months post-op).

By that point I had lost more than 100 lbs, was eating closer to 800-900 calories per day and exercising regularly (3-4 times per week at the gym, plus daily 4-5K walks). I found I tolerated the alcohol much better during our 2 week vacation.

But it's not something that is part of my normal daily life. I will have a social drink (just 1) during special events, but I haven't drank anything since returning home from vacation (over a month now) and I don't miss it in the least.

I was not much of a drinker before surgery, so this is pretty close to my normal drinking pattern pre-op as well.

It is said that VSG patients must be extra careful to monitor their alcohol use post-op as there is a risk of "cross-addiction". We give up our addiction to food, and substitute it with an addiction to alcohol! Very dangerous and easily done!

If you're going to have a social drink, try just part of one drink at first to see how you do, but I would certainly wait until you're at least 6 months post-op. You need to be solidly into a normal eating routine and above all, make sure you hydrate well before and after the drink, make sure your'e in a safe environment if you get drunk (it may not take much!) and of course, no driving.

Follow your surgeon and NUT's guidelines regarding alcohol consumption post-op and you will be fine.

Wow! That is FANTASTIC! That's a CRAZY amount of weight.........and in less than a year! You are doing so well, you should be extrememly proud of yourself!

So interesting! I love salty things, but my real weakness has always been sweets! So recently I read that if you have a craving for sweets, you should eat a pickle! Perhaps you need to do the opposite....if you have a craving for something salty, you should have something sweet (just a bite, probably with artificial sweetener, or a natural sugar substitute such as stevia). It will probably change your whole "track" for that particular craving and "reset" you!

As well, there is a good chance that you are craving the salty items because your new healthy eating habits have dramatically reduced the amount of sodium intake from your pre-op norm. I know that I was eating WELL in excess of the daily recommended max. of 2500 mg of sodium pre-op. Now I use MyFitnessPal to track ALL of my food intake and I see that I generally am about 1200 mg per day of sodium. And that's without really paying alot of attention to sodium in my foods! I focus on protein, carbs and fat...and finally calories.

So perhaps your body is still working on "resetting" it's balance point for sodium levels in your body and is feeling a "gap" compared to what you had pre-surgery! Also, if you're exercising (that includes walking, btw!), you're muscles are using electrolytes (such as sodium, potassium and calcium), and perhaps you need a bit more of these to replenish what you're using up!

If you must increase your electrolytes though, it's really much wiser to do it by consuming items specifically targeted for that, such as Gatorade G2, etc.

These are just a few of my random thoughts..........take or leave as you please!

Good work on identifying possible sources of weakness and bad habits. Being self-aware is the most important step we can take to keep ourselves on track and successful. Both now, during our losing/repatterning phase, and for the long-term!

Cant wait to not wonder if my butt is as big as hers in any given situation. I don't feel that big however when I look at pictures I am mortified. Fairly certain my butt is typically bigger

I have the big "caboose" and a large "front end". What a picture! I'm MORE than curvy, in all directions! But I'm down close to 55 lbs about 11 weeks post-op and I actually do see it shrinking! I take measurements on my "surgiversary" and I do pictures (front, side and back) every 2 months.

You will get there...........the incredible shrinking butt is going to be YOU.........believe it!

As to not felling that big, it's amazing! I obviously think I'm smaller than I am (and was). I used to sport a large variety of bruises all over my body from trying to get through spaces I can't fit through, walking past walls and thinking I had room to spare, etc. If that's not a strong indication of a messed-up body image, I don't know what is!

I'm hoping my size will shrink down to what my brain thinks it really is.........so that I stop running into things! LOL

Cool!

Yesterday my husband and I went shopping at a large mall near our home that has just redone their food court. He wanted to check it out. We ended up eating dinner there.

I ordered a "mini" Tom Yum soup with chicken and had about 1/3 of it and he was desperately craving the "mini pecan caramel cheesecake" cup. So we shared it! I had about 3 small spoons and he had the rest.

Logged it in MFP also (best estimates, anyways) and it didn't hurt my day either!

This is exactly what I've been telling people.......you don't have to say goodbye to things you want and/or love. You just have to fit then into your new lifestyle in small portions!

Glad you enjoyed the day!

Sounds almost identical to my experience on the day of surgery on May 14th!

So today, you are no doubt sleeping a fair bit, may have already had a shower (so nice, but very tiring!) and walking the halls with your trusty IV pole, getting ride of gas! I was in room 211!

Don't forget to use your incentive spirometer (the little 3 ball breathing thingy) as often as possible. And get as many of the balls up (and stay up for a second at least), as often as you can. Very important to re-inflate those lungs!

Good luck and keep us posted!