kimbernada

To me, the only "easy" part of this is that there is no "way out" of eating less. How many times have we (me) started a diet and then a week or two, maybe even a month, later... we go back to our normal way of eating. After the surgery, it is physically impossible to eat as much as you used to. And that's a good thing.

I don't really have much of a stash. Maybe only a size down or so. Although pre-surgery, I did buy a few shirts in smaller sizes because they were on clearance and I had a few good coupons. I like shopping online at Woman Within. You can google coupon codes (or they email some to you). One good deal I got was a zippered microfleece jacket that I will take to work with me... only $3.24 - on clearance, a good coupon, plus an earnings certificate. (You earn a small percentage based on what you buy and can spend that back at the store.)

Wow! I'm actually surprised that you were able to find a healthy meal at a fair! We have our annual "Potato Days Festival" coming up in a couple of weeks. Pretty much anything you could possibly make with potatoes will be served. (And don't forget the mashed potato wrestling, mashed potato sculpture contest, etc.) http://www.potatodays.com/

Ha... I was in the kitchen yesterday and lost my shorts AND underwear! Thank goodness I was ALONE. I ordered new underwear.

I am able to take my Wellbutrin XL pill plus I take one Prilosec twice a day.

Ha.... I used the Days Left widget too. It was pretty cool to get down to 0 days left.

I've been following my doctor's plan which suggests 60 - 90 grams of protein a day. I've lost 11.something pounds since my surgery a week ago yesterday. 17 pounds is nothing to sneeze at - that's only what, two weeks ago? Just make sure you are getting in the calories, protein, and fluids. Exercise is essential as well. I think the weight loss comes off faster for people who weighed more when they got sleeved.

My guidelines say I can start them the second month. It could just be that at this time, they didn't agree with your sleeve.

My aunt, who had the RNY several years ago, has had to have part of her intestines removed because of the bowel obstructions AND I just found out yesterday that she is going to be having a colostomy. I can't say that this is 100% because of complications years later from the bypass, but... (I mean, would she have still had bowel obstructions regardless?) I'm not a doctor. Granted she's kind of the poster child for what CAN go wrong. My best friend, who had her RNY two years ago, has done wonderfully. I'm sticking with the sleeve.

Jennifer Hudson did Weight Watchers.

"Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall." - Oliver Goldsmith I don't have anything to add that hasn't already been mentioned, but I like the quote above. You are "getting up" and learning from this. Stay strong!!

I didn't want to tell anyone. However I did tell my parents and got the reaction I was expecting from my mom. (Not positive.) My husband told his parents and they were thrilled and said they supported me 100%. I emailed both sets of parents a two-page PDF document that talks about the surgery and has a diagram. My mother-in-law even went online to find out more information. My best friend was the first person I told. I also told one of my teammates and another co-worker. It's funny, the "other" coworker just said "Oh that's great!" and never brought it up again - which was really nice. I mean, I don't see her that often at work, but she's my Close To My Heart consultant so I go to her house once a month for stamp club. (To me, she just filed it away like someone would do if you said that you were getting a hysterectomy.... you know, it's a surgery and then you go on. So this is a good reaction.) My teammate knows that I have told the rest of our team yet, so she instant messages her support to me (how many days, how's the pre-op diet going, etc.) I have wanted to tell the rest of my teammates but we haven't all been together for awhile. I think we are all in the office tomorrow and we have a team meeting at 8:30, so I'm thinking I might tell them all then. (My team is like family, so I should probably tell them that I'll be gone the next two weeks.)

The chili would have been a good choice (if you eat meat). High in Protein... although I guess it depends on where you are in the food stage.

The only times that I have experienced dry mouth with my CPAP is when my mouth was open during the night. When I had a full face mask (over the nose AND mouth), I couldn't keep keep my mouth shut. Once I switched to nasal pillows, like the Swift FX, I was able to keep my mouth shut. (For the most part, sometimes I wake myself up with a wind tunnel sound and finally realize it's ME making that noise.)

Congratulations!! (This reminds me that I forgot to get the Gas-Ex strips...) LOL

Next time he says something, start patting your pockets or digging in your purse. If he asks what you are doing, tell him you are looking for a condom because he's obviously a d*ckhead. Seriously, that is harassment. Your HR department should be contacted. Period.

I found the teensy 1/2 cup size Ziplock containers at Wal-mart tonight. I think it was six (with lids) for $2.28. I forgot to mention that if you don't want to spend a lot of money on a small blender, Hamilton Beach has a nice little smoothie blender that makes a single serving in a travel mug - just under $16.

At work, I have a little fridge under my desk. My plans are to have light soy milk, Jello, etc. in that. I ordered a little milk powder container from Amazon. I have a blender ball shaker with two more arriving tomorrow. I'll keep one of those at work. At home, I have a Cuisinart compact blender (and the blender ball shakers). To help me to eat smaller portions, I ordered a set of smaller stainless steel utensils. I'm thinking of getting these 1/2 cup containers, but they are cheaper at my grocery store by about $1. For the pureed stage, I plan to puree meats/veggies and will freeze them in these trays. Each cube is 1 oz. I came across this site http://wholesomebaby...MeatRecipes.htm that has basic information on pureeing your own food. Edited to add: Lock & Lock has a really small container that would work great for storing post-surgery pureed/soft/etc food. I just remembered that I already have a couple of these.

Go hiking in Yellowstone. Edited to add: And not have anxiety over seat belts on airplanes.

That's great! Are you still in the hospital or are you doing laps in your house?

Just tell them... "Yep, now YOU will be the fat one." and walk away.

I have to do this on any long car trips. I start the day before, every day and then the day after we get home. It really isn't a big deal.

Congrats on your weight loss! I've been taking Biotin for a few months now and haven't noticed a change. Did you change anything else, like shampoo or styling product?

This is good to know! I was just telling my hubs that the ONLY downside to losing weight is that I don't think my ring can be resized. The band is one of those eternity bands that is soldered to the engagement ring. He had suggested that we just get the diamonds put into a new setting, but I don't want that!! (I love my ring!)

Do you have to use Optifast? The Bariatric Advantage Meal Replacement shakes are around $60 per bag (35 servings). Dietdirect.com has a coupon code AMERICA that will save you $17.76 on any order over $125 plus free shipping. I bought two bags of the BA shakes plus two Blender Bottles and it came to a hair over $111. In addition to saving the $17.76 and free shipping, I also got 5% off as they have some sort of special where the more you buy, the more you save. My 2-week preop diet is three shakes a day plus one frozen dinner that has 320 calories or less - plus unlimited raw veggies, sugar free jello, and sugar free popsicles.