Avealina

I know I'm a bit late to the game here on this answer, but I felt the need to put in my 2 cents. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2002, which is believed to have been caused/brought on by a car accident in 1999. I also suffer from a few other pain conditions as well, but I won't go into those right now. At the time I had the accident, I was 130 lbs ( the lowest weight I have ever been in my life). I have always battled a weight problem and the only reason I was that small in the first place was because I went on a diet binge and ate no more than 900 calories a day and exercised about 5-7 hours a day, 6-7 days a week. Well, as the pain set in after the accident, it started limiting my ability to exercise, where now, I am barely able to walk 1/2 a mile. I started my surgery journey at 244 lbs, being about 5'1''. As of now, I'm 192 lbs, so that makes for a total loss now of 52 lbs. As I started losing the weight, I started experiencing more and more pain. At first I attributed this to my increased physical activity following surgery. However, as the pain continued to get worse, I returned to doing the same amount of activity that I was doing before I had my surgery. Much to my surprise, my pain has continued to get worse and new pains have appeared, with different character than my fibro or any other pain I had prior to surgery. This after all my doctors swearing and giving me 100% promise that losing the weight will reduce the pain. After talking with a friend who had her surgery a few years ago and has been maintaining her goal weight for almost 2 years, her losing the weight brought on the discovery of rhuematoid arthritis, and that her excess weight was masking it, due to the fat cushioning the joints. I would highly advise anyone doing this surgery for the weight loss to reduce fibromyalgia pain alone, to consider it heavily, as there is the very real possibility that it will NOT get better, and may in fact make it worse.

I started my pre-op diet at 244 lbs. My surgery day, 6/11/12, I was at 233 lbs roughly. I'm 12 weeks out now at sitting at about 190 lbs. While I need to start a strength training routine, I have just been walking most days of the week, at least a mile each day. I also do little things like park farther away from the doors at stores I go to, and walk the whole grocery store when shopping, etc. I do want to/plan to kick up my workouts a bit more too, when I finish getting over this cold.

They generally do screen for pregnancy before you go in for surgery. I know for me, about 3.5 weeks after surgery I had a 5.5 week long period. Most recently I've been under quite a bit of stress, but since that has mostly past, I too have been vomiting a lot. In the last 3 days I've not been able to keep anything down. My best advice would be to contact your surgeon and ask the question. If you are really concerned, take a pregnancy test as well.

I've had chips since my surgery, but honestly, like 8-10 chips or so and I'm full. This could be because I'm only about 3 months out. I have also had some chocolate too. And Caffeine. I refuse to completely deny myself, as that is what caused me to binge before surgery. I just remember, everything in moderation now. I don't have to eat the whole cake, but a bite or two will usually satisfy the craving. With chocolate, I get those new Hersey's Simple pleasures, the ones with 30% less fat, and only eat one. I've had ice cream, but I now buy the skinny cow stuff that has less fat, etc, and in those small pre-portioned mini cups. It's not something I eat everyday, obviously, but there is no point in completely denying yourself of everything, as it is my belief that this just leads to remorse, guilt and eventually would lead to weight re-gain due to binge eating.

Chantix was really BAD ju ju for me. I got really sleepless and restless, really bad nausea and vomiting, even when I took it with a full meal (before surgery big meal), when I did sleep, I had some really crazy dreams too. It did, however, help me cut back a bit on smoking for the week I was taking it. I wish I didn't have the nausea and vomiting from it, as this is the ultimate reason I had to stop taking it.

I wanted to join the military since I was 14 and even joined JROTC and ROTC, in high school and college, respectively. Unfortunately, that dream was killed when I discovered I had hypothyroid when I was 24. When I was 20, I looked into having RNY surgery, because the sleeve wasn't really thought of as a single step procedure at the time, and ended up backing out a week before surgery because my husband at the time wanted a divorce. When I talked to the recruiter at that time, you could join, with a waiver. I would think because the sleeve doesn't involve rearranging intestines, that it would be waived easier than the RNY procedure.

I was sleeved June 11th, and I never quit. It does increase healing time, increase the risk of ulcers, and for me, increases the rate at which I get heartburn. Don't get me wrong, I did try to quit for surgery, but it just didn't work out for me. I'm still trying to quit, but it's the hardest thing I've ever tried to do. I wish you luck in giving it up. We made the choice to have surgery to be healthy, so smoking is kind of negating that choice.

I just recently Stalled out at 9 weeks out... Today, weighed in at the doctor's office and I was officially below 200 lbs!!! You just have to keep telling yourself that the scale is just a number, and that the non-scale victories are much more important! For me, I recently had to go shopping for my cousin's wedding a week and a half ago because nothing I had fit me anymore. To top that off, For the first time in over 10 years, I did not have to shop in the Plus Size section! I was excited to say the least.

Awesome post! I actually heard about this months ago, but have been trying to get the money together to order the DDP Yoga program. One day, I will.

I personally Like Olay's basic Sensitive skin with SPF 15 for my face and neck. It's lightweight and works well for me. I also use Gold Bond Ultimate Healing with Aloe for body moisturization. Both of these lotions are good for my very sensitive skin. Just remember, You don't have to spend a fortune to get a good product. If these don't work for you, just keep experamenting with different ones, until you find something you like and that works for you. Also, don't forget to keep up with your Water intake, as that will help as well.

You used to be able to, way back when. I'm not sure if you still can. Your best bet would be to talk with a recruiter, they will be able to look up the regulations and let you know with certainty.

After having laparoscopic tubal ligation surgery, this was by far less painful. Also, I was given pill pain meds. While I did need to take it occasionally, I worried the same thing about how I was going to swallow them when I could barely manage water. Honestly, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but it did hurt to swallow them.

I'm 7 weeks out today and I kind of stalled out a bit. I know for me, it's because since going to regular food, I haven't got nearly enough protein in. So what I have been doing is adding a scoop of unflavored protein powder into my morning special protein oatmeal, drinking at least 1-2 shakes per day and then eating nothing but meat at my evening meal. This and I need to increase my walking again. My weight loss is starting again slowly, but surely. This isn't a sprint or a race, and when in doubt, contact your surgeon, as there could be something wrong! G'luck everyone!

I'm about 7 weeks out and because of getting sick recently, with a tooth abscess and having been on my period for 5 weeks now, I've stayed at the same weight. You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT weigh yourself daily, it'll just depress you. Try not to focus so much on the number on the scale, and more on your non scale victories. Losing inches, being able to tie your shoes without losing your breath, or fitting into smaller clothes. Things like this matter way more than a pesky number on a scale! Remember, this is a process and surgery is just a tool, and we're doing this to be healthy, not to just lose pounds.

Oh and as to the baby food, I tried a few jars of that, and it was so bland, that it made me vomit. I just couldn't tolerate it at all!

I am noticing the same thing. It just seems like such a hassle to eat anything anymore. Although, I'm starting to enjoy cooking a bit, the process of eating just is Daunting! I'm also noticing since I am not 7 weeks out, and can and have been adding solid foods, that I'm even farther away from my daily protein goals than I was when I was on puree and liquids right after surgery. Any advice anyone has on this topic would be great! Maybe I'll just stick with drinking a few protein shakes a day and only eating one meal a day to be able to keep up my protein intake. I think that's the reason I've stalled out a bit on my weight loss right now.

I'm 6 weeks out and I had my first cup of coffee a few days ago. It gave me heart burn and didn't taste as good as it did before surgery. Just remember if you do drink coffee again after surgery, to use an artificial sweetener and go easy on the creamers, as both sugar and creamers have a lot of carbohydrates, which are not good for you, or your new lifestyle. If you can drink your coffee black, that's even better. Also, my surgeon warned me to stay away from caffeine because the caffeine can trigger hunger.

My surgery was 6/11/12. Just got the go ahead to start adding real food! I'm so excited! No more all mushy.

Thank you so much TMyers1471! I checked out that website and found a few recipes that I'm going to try this week! Awesome information folks! Keep it coming!

Thank you for the options! I think I could definitely handle cooking for an hour or so on my days off work and freezing my meals like you said! Great, Great, GREAT ideas!!!

I agree with iegal! You need to take it slow! It is not a race and everyone's body is different. It will take you body time to adjust and you will plateau from time to time. For me, I'm 30 days out now, down 20 lbs. It was a slow start for me, but then again, I've also had the hell period too. ( have gone on now for over 2 weeks) Follow the diet plan and make sure you keep moving! It will come off, I promise!

Hi there folks! I'm about to start on solid foods and I HATE cooking! I was looking at bariatric specific foods, but they are rather expensive. So I was thinking about getting those weight watchers Smart Ones or the Lean Cuisine frozen meals. What do ya'll think about them? I haven't gotten to meet with a nutritionist just yet, that comes Monday, but I just wanted to get a consensus here first! Thanks!