BlessedBeyondMeasure2012

I used Dr. Merriman. He's good at what he does and he knows it. My husband doesn't care for him too much but I like him. I think it is just a personality issue, I haven't had any complications at all. I went for my 8 week follow up this past Thursday and I've lost 50 pounds since I saw them before starting my preop diet and I think 30 since surgery. His NUT Lisa is good too, I didn't like her as much at first but I really do like her now. As long as you follow their plan you will do great. His plan is a little more difficult and slow going than most people have. Most people are released to eat a "normal" diet at 6 weeks out. I still have instructions for up to 12 weeks and when to add things. I have followed his plan really closely and that may be why I haven't had any trouble. I am so happy with my decision and my progress! I hope y'all also have as good of luck as I have!

I thought I was the only one that felt this way about those stupid little stalls! There is actually a chair in our office that I avoid sitting in because the arms of it dig into my legs and hurt. I sat in it yesterday and not only did it NOT hurt, I FIT!! lol! Yay for NSV's!

You are looking great!!! Keep up the good work! Its amazing to me to look at a picture of me now and see how I have changed, I can't wait to see more coming along!

Same to you contrygurl! We are gonna break these stalls! (I just hope sooner than later, lol)

I was 297 on surgery day and was 269 this morning. I've been in a stall for the past two weeks. Still, 28 pounds in 7 and a half weeks ain't bad!! I'll take it You are going to do great!

Stuck in a stall this week and ate scallops from Outback Sunday night (they have like 2000 mg sodium in them) so I knew I'd be heavier yesterday morning. Next week will look better!! I'm determined to get 30 pounds off by July 4!

You look amazing!!! Keep up the great work, I can't wait to have a success story like yours. And I'm determined that I will! Thanks for being an inspiration and bringing smiles to so many faces!

I know, I know, they are going to happen. I'm 7 weeks out and in my second one. I get it but this week (total for the week) I actually gained 1.4 lbs. I know lots of it was sodium that I didn't realize I had eaten until after the fact but still. I'm just irritated with myself. As of tomorrow this stall will be two weeks, I'm ready for it to break.

Miracle suit is an AMAZING swim suit. I'm not sure how small the sizes go down but I'm sure you could look it up. They are a little pricy but are great and last for years. Good luck!

I did this very thing last night. That was the first time since surgery that I even came close to getting sick. (I'm 7 weeks out) I had this really uncomfortable, almost painful feeling along with EXTREME nausea for about 10 minutes. I even went in the bathroom just to be on the safe side. After a few minutes in there I had about 5 really intense hiccups and then they stopped and the feeling slowly started to ease. I'm gonna do my best to never do that again. I don't like throwing up and I like being nauseated even less. I'll have to apologize to the starving children across the globe for throwing away a few bites with most meals. I have tried to watch how "skinny" people eat, and almost all of them don't clean their plates. I'm having to break this in myself. We have already started teaching our son to make a "happy plate" and I feel guilty about giving him bad habits already. I'm going to have to stop it now and not wait until he is over weight. Thank the Lord he has gotten his physique from his daddy, thin!

I am 6 weeks out as of this past Monday and I have been in my SECOND stall since surgery. The first one started at day 10 and lasted 2 1/2 weeks. Then all of a sudden, for no apparent reason, I started losing again. This time the scale hasn't moved much (bounced up and down but all around the same number) since last Wednesday. Frustrating, yes! I am going to measure myself tonight and see how the inches are coming along. During my first stall I dropped a pant size, I can't wait to see if I drop another one during this one It will break eventually. Keep measurements and that will be encouraging for you!

GIRL! Get rid of those things! You won't need them again, EVER! Do keep something from your largest sizes to be able to see where you have come from when you reach your goal. I have started a stack of clothes to take to a local resale store. She will give me store credit for what I bring in and I can get some "new" things there until I reach my goal. (I could also get cash but she will give me more in store credit and I have found some really cute stuff there before) I don't want to have to spend the money to buy new things that I may only wear for a month or two so I'm going this route. We take things to Goodwill all the time and once I'm at goal I will again, but for now I am going to let my old clothes benefit me in getting some new smaller ones.

Good luck! Don't forget to breathe!

Happy birthday! I hope it is the best one ever!

Barefoot and Yellowtail both make really nice, non-fizzy moscatos. Yummy!

My husband really likes the lemon one, Lemon Supreme I think. I am not far enough out yet to eat them but he has been trying them out for me as a replacement for his lunch. I have heard great reviews about the chocolate chip cookie dough bar, I can't wait to try it

I track EVERYTHING I eat, EVERY bite of everything I eat. That's why it makes so little sense to me. I drink at least 64 oz of fluid each day (it is a very rare occasion that I don't get in that much and even then I get in at least 48 oz of fluid) but most days I get between 80-100 oz in. The tuna that I was eating had light mayo and mustard in it so it was plenty moist. I bake or pan sear fish every night but I do it so they are not dry. Last night I ate about 6 oz of Tilapia, but some night's I'm doing good to eat 3 oz of it, cooked the same way. Who knows. I know everyone is different. I guess lots of factors play into it as well. I didn't realize that it would take 12+ weeks to heal so that makes sense some too. I'm just going to have to get really good at figuring out that one bite too full and take two less bites that that! LOL!

I was 6 weeks out yesterday and over the last week to week and a half I feel like I am getting more restriction. I have started eating chicken and fish but I had not been having any trouble getting in about 5 oz of fish at a time. I have been eating 4-4.5 oz of scrambled eggs at a time since about 4 weeks out. But now I am having a hard time even getting in 4 oz at a time. I fixed 4.5 oz of tuna salad (just tuna, light mayo and plain mustard) for lunch today and I probably didn't even get in but maybe 3 oz before I felt full. I'm not complaining I'm just confused. I thought we would gradually be able to eat a little more along and along. I'm so happy with my sleeve and I am feeling great. I guess I am just concerned that something could be wrong now that I am able to eat less than I was two weeks ago. Any thoughts folks?

Sabra and Oikos are my favorite. I have some Wild Garden brand in the pantry now waiting to try it but haven't yet. I like the original flavor best but roasted red pepper is good too. I'm sure homemade is the yummiest but I don't have a recipe or the time so I'll stick with store bought. We have a Greek place here that has the best hummus I've ever tasted, I almost want to see if I can buy it straight from them, may have to give this some more thought

I love Moscato (you can get it without the fizzies too!) and muscadine wine that I can only find in Arkansas. My sister has a friend that brings us back a case at the time when we need it. I also have a little winery near my house where you can get red wines made with blueberries and pomegrantes. Those are pretty yummy as well and are semi great for you if you are looking at the antioxidant content of them. I haven't had any alcohol since surgery. I'm not a big drinker anyway but I was told that I needed to wait at least a year after surgery before alcohol. I'm trying to be a "good patient" and do what I'm told plus I don't want to do anything to throw off my weight loss so I think I'll be waiting a while. I would LOVE a good margarita too!

My Dr/NUT says that I can have decaf coffee (it's the caffine that is the diuretic not the coffee itself, it actually can have some laxitive properties). I have gotten to where I fix my coffee in the mornings with a scoop of vanilla protein powder and some English Toffee stevia or with a scoop of chocolate protein powder and either dark chocolate stevia or hazelnut stevia. Now it takes a little figuring out because if you get your coffee too hot the protein powder will clump. I usually mix a scoop of protein with 1-2 oz of water and then temper it with some of the coffee. Add that back to your coffee and you are good to go! I don't even miss Starbucks any more and trust me, I love me some starbucks! I have a cup of it every morning, I don't get the carbs from milk or FF half and half PLUS I get the protein.

How long after surgery until you could play golf again? I will be 6 weeks out in Monday but don't have another follow up appointment for another two weeks. The weather has been beautiful and I'd love to go play with my family. Any advice?

I am having some crazy head hunger today. I haven't had too much since surgery 5 weeks ago but today it is getting to me. I haven't given in, nor will I (I'm more hard headed than that) but boy am I craving some carbs/sugar today. I finally broke my almost three week stall and it is great to see the scale going back down. I've been doing really good on my diet, lots of protein, super low carbs, lots of fluids. So where the heck is this coming from??? Of course the donuts and banana nut muffins sitting on the counter outside my office aren't helping anything. I ate my tuna salad for lunch and I am not hungry but my mouth wants to have the munchies bad. Not much longer and I'll start on another bottle of water, maybe that will help...

I went in on a Monday and was discharged on Wednesday morning. I had a drain that was there when I woke up and was removed the morning I went home. A nurse pulled it. Again, not painful but strange. I didn't have any external sutures or staples and dermabond (basically like superglue) was over all of my incisions. The dermabond got itchy as it started coming off about a week to 10 days later. I had no complications and was up walking the halls the day of surgery. Good luck!!

I hit my first stall at less than two weeks out. I was stalled for two and a half weeks and the scale finally started moving again a little over a week ago. This past week (I weigh officially on Mondays since that was my surgery day so I "officially" weighed this morning) I lost 6.8 pounds. That's the most I've lost in one week since the week of surgery (you can look at my signature and see how I have done each week). The stall will break, keep your chin up. This may be your first but it won't be the last. I think we get spoiled to watching the scale move down everyday and when it quits we get frustrated. I felt like a brat whining over not losing but still I wasn't getting my way so I whined. I will tell you this, when I was in my stall, it seemed like more people noticed my weight loss. I even dropped a pant size, maybe 2, during my stall. I absolutely lost inches even though I didn't lose weight. Measure yourself and see where your inches are coming off even if the scale isn't moving. You've got this!