joatsaint

I am with 1SlimmerMe, the choice is yours. But ask yourself these 2 questions: 1. Do I want to be in the same condition or worse a year from now? 2. What am I willing to do to change my situation? I ask myself these 2 questions whenever I have to make a life changing decision.

At 3 weeks, I was allowed soft/pureed foods. You didn't mention what you are allowed to eat, but if you just drank the soup, minus the clams, I think it would work. You can use my "Frankensleeve approved food taste test" to see if you are ready for a new food. 1. Eat 1/2 teaspoon of the food 2. Wait 5 minutes 3. Eat another 1/2 teaspoon of food. 4. Wait 5 minutes. If Frankensleeve did not have a negative reaction after that, it was safe for me to eat. :-P

Just remember, the liquid diet is probably the hardest part of this whole process. If only I could transfer what it feels like to be on the other side to you, you'd look forward to everyone of those shakes! :-P Hang in there, in 6 months, you are going to look back and see that it was so worth it!

As ShrinkingPeach said, be careful with the amounts you drink. I've never been much of a drinker, but post-op, it REALLY doesn't take much to get me hammered! And it hits me fast too. I'm a happy drunk, so I tend to enjoy the effects it has on me. :-P If you are going to have anything with carbonation, try pouring it over ice first. And sip real slow, I can still remember how little I could eat at one time when I was at 2 months... I was only able to eat 1/2 cup of food per meal. Frankensleeve was still swollen and cranky!

Frankensleeve threw a tantrum for the 1st 10 days, over anything I ate. He really didn't like sugar free Jell-O or sugar free popsicles! So what you're feeling is normal. Almost everything will upset your new tummy for the 1st months, then things will settle down. I tried to look at it as a good thing. As long as Frankie was upset, he kept me from eating. And I knew, eventually, I would be eating more and different types of food. Then it would me up to me to make the right choices and right amounts of foods to eat.

My post-op diet was: 1st week clear liquids 2nd week full liquids 3rd week soft/puree foods 4th week full foods But I wasn't able to progress that fast. Frankensleeve did not tolerate food too well. I lived on Cream of Mushroom Soup, sugar free popsicles, sugar free Jell-O, and Peanut Butter for about 6 weeks. Then things got easier, but it took a long time (about 6 months) to fully transition back to full foods like vegetables, fruit, beef, chicken and eggs. I just took it as it came and tried to look at it as a chance to stay away from calories I didn't need to be eating anyway. :-)

DOH! So that's why I had such a hard time googling an image to put in my post! :-P

Now comes the part where you get to LIVE! Congratulations on reaching your goal. Just get out there and start experimenting. Think about your life goals, career goals, and what other areas of your life you'd like to change.

Does anyone else feel like me? That going through the pain/trouble/hassle of WLS was a necessary right of passage for personal growth and taking charger of your life?

I never asked for a seat belt extender. I fake clicked my seat belt! :-) My gut covered the seat belt so well that the stewardess could not see if it was secured or not..

Thanks for posting this. I'm a Zombie fan so I'm happy to have lost 56+ pounds of brains. :-p

Feel free to vent, this is the place to do it. :-) Be sure and stay hydrated. It gets easier day by day. 3-C plan for success! Control what you can (your actions and thoughts). Cope with what you can’t (external emergencies and other’s behavior). Concentrate on what counts. Stay positive. Believe in yourself. Focus on your progress, not perfection.

My feet didn't necessarily shrink. I had lots of foot swelling, on and off, when I was overweight. I had to buy a 1/2 size bigger to accommodate the temporary swelling. Since losing 170lbs, my feet went back to my high school size of 10 1/2 and have stayed that size for 2 years now. P.S. My feet are ripped now baby! I have the feet of a bodybuilder! Too bad I don't have the matching six-pack abs! :-(

I call that a major NSV! I feel great when I can just slide into a booth, no worry about if the table is bolted to the floor and can't be pushed far enough away from my gut! No longer living in fear of dreaded booth seat! :-P

I've found the Bragg brand at all 3 grocery stores in my town, including Wal-Mart.

When you say you put it on your vegetables? Does that mean AFTER they've been cooked? You don't cook with ACV do you? Thanks

Eggface has a LOT of recipes to choose from. I did a quick "vegetarian" search and came up with this post on her site. http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2013/10/healthy-protein-packed-recipes-to.html

Moobs? Yes, I had'em pre-surgery. They weren't very noticeable when I was 275 pre-surgery. But they blossomed when I was 375!. They shrank considerable post-op, but are a little droopy now that I'm down 170lbs. My girlfriend doesn't seem to mind. :-) [sharedmedia=videos:videos:106]

Found this today. Don't know how long it will stay live? Or what they will send me? http://www.bariatricchoice.com/samples My sample pack came in the mail:

I get my ideas from the "Trending Topics" thread list on the right had side. ------------->>>>>> :-) That tells me what people are interested in.

I have never enjoyed exercising, but starting my 2nd month post-op, I began a walking program with the goal of getting to 10,000 steps a day. After reaching that goal, the next was speed, trying to get up to 4 mph/hr for 1 hour. I did that for a little over a year. The one thing that kept me going and motivated was my best friend. He was there to walk with me every day, 3 - 5 days a week. If he hadn't been there for me, I would have skipped many days when I didn't feel up to it. :-)

I had BCBS of Texas. When I decided to look into WLS, I called BCBS and asked for a list of their approved WLS doctors. I went to one of them, rather than a general physician. I was already diagnosed with sleep Apnea, so I was prequalified for WLS. The sleep study was a breeze, other than having all the little wire leads hanging off me, it was like staying overnight in a hotel. :-P I would suggest calling your insurance and getting their list of local WLS doctors and contacting the doctor yourself. They are going to be more qualified about deciding if you need surgery rather than your primary physician.

I use a food scale on and off. Especially when I'm not sure of a portion size, like Cereal. I needed to weigh it to be sure of the calorie count. I bought a good cheap one off Amazon a few years ago and it has served me well. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002CM6TVI/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This is the one I got. Easy to use multifunction home scale - Perfect for cooks, dieters and families Max weight 11lbs; Displays ounces/lbs/grams/kgs; Graduation .05 oz / 1 gram Includes FREE EatSmart Calorie Factors guide - Portion control and calorie counting made easy! Tare feature eliminates the weight of a plate; 3 Minute Auto-Shutoff lets you prepare ingredients while maintaining battery life 2 AAA batteries included; 100% EatSmart Guaranteed Satisfaction

I didn't eat any pasta or rice for almost a full year. I was eating around 800 calories a day and pasta seems like a lot of empty calories. Plus pasta can trigger my head hunger. I've not tried the zucchini noodles, only because I never thought about it. But they might be a great substitute. http://www.bariatricpal.com/blogs/entry/31170-confession-time-the-spaghetti-monster-almost-got-me/

Yep! My style changed. Lifestyle, clothing style, mental style. :-P Everything changed for the better. I feel better about myself, wear colors other than black and have a real social life now.