joatsaint

Yeeeaaaa, Super Size that baby! Do you think I can get them to add a scoop of ice cream on the apple pie? Too bad they don't sell deep-fried ice cream, like we have at the carnivals.

If you are lifting weights, then you may be gaining muscle - and it may only seem like you are not losing weight. Or your body may be hanging onto every calorie because you're working out so much. I wouldn't worry about it too much. This is a marathon, not a sprint. And everyone has to figure out how their body responds to different caloric intake, weight training, and cardio. I personally have been gained back 3 pounds 2 weeks ago - and have been stuck there for the past 17 days. I've been walking harder and longer than ever before, but just can seem to start the downward tick on the scale. It's pretty damn frustrating. And I know that I haven't eaten anything more or different over the past 2 weeks. But this morning, I hopped on the scale and was down just over 1 lb. Hopefully the weight loss is starting again. I've been through these 2 week periods several times in the past 5 months and I am assuming that my body is just getting use to it's new weight level and caloric intake, then it realizes that this is the new normal and starts the weight loss again. Man! I am so envious of those lucky people that report 25 lb/moth weight loss. To all those that have lost 100 lbs in 6 months, I salute you - and have a standing offer to take you to McDonald's for lunch. Muahahahahaha

I guess it's true - it ain't easy being green. :-P

For the past few weeks or so, I have been trying to get my protein from solid pieces of food like chicken or pork loin. Up until now, I’ve been eating ground chicken or ground turkey – meats that were partially broken down by the grinding process. But now that I’ve switched to whole pieces, the switch brings up new issues. When I was eating the ground meat plus vegetables, it was all mixed up like a casserole and keeping track of portions was as easy as spooning some into my half cup container. No muss no fuss no leftovers. Now it’s more difficult to judge just how much I can eat at one meal and I often wind up with a few bites leftover. Enter the problem. I’m a kid of the “clean your plate club.” I was always encouraged to clean my plate (I think I got a merit badge, I was so gifted) and now that old habit is coming back to haunt me. Even when Frankensleeve (Yes, I named him!) is telling me I’m full and if I eat any more, he’s going to put the stomach in reverse gear, I still feel compelled to eat the last two or three bites. Frankie: "Hey were full up down here, turn off the chewing machine." Me: "But I still have 2 bites of meat left." Frankie: "Okay guys, send up a burp as a warning." Me: Burp. "Oooh, that one feels like it squeezed past some food to get out. But I'll go ahead and eat those last 2 bites." Frankie: "Okay guys, put it in reverse!" Me: "Uh oh." Now, I am training myself to put the fork down and walk away. I really want this compulsion out of my life. It’s like having to go through the first few weeks post-surgery all over again. Learning when to stop and not take just one more bite – especially when it’s something extra yummy! Frankie and I will just have to build a new relationship I guess. P.S. Frankie really doesn't like freshly dug, boiled new potatoes! Leave me a comment and let us know what issues you struggle with. It helps everyone to know they aren't alone. Keep Pimpin that sleeve!

I haven't had any problems with caffeine - in coffee or in Crystal Light or taking caffeine tablets. But that's just me, your stomach could be different. For example, I could not eat sugar free popsicles the first few months, now my stomach is happy with them. Other people have reported no issues with popsicles from day one. Caffeine is known to irritate the stomach, but I would also be inclined to think that the instant coffee or powdered creamer you are using my also contribute to the issue. The only real way to test your new stomach is to try each of the ingredients by themselves if possible.

I'm 5 months out. I try to eat about every 3 hours, even when I'm not hungry. It could only be a bite or two, but I do eat.

I started off with small goals. First, when shopping, I parked as far away from the stores as I could to get in some extra steps. Then I did that plus I'd walk every isle in the store. At work, my goal was to make one lap around the inside of the building 4 or 5 times a day. Now, 5 months later, I am walking 30 minutes before work and 30 - 45 minutes during lunch. My goal was always do as much as I could till it hurt then just a little more. It adds up over time.

Milk of Magnesia did it for me! 2 - 3 tablespoons full and lots of liquids. In about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs, it was GO TIME! No cramps or feeling like it was an emergency, just that little feeling of, "you need to get to the bathroom soon." :-P

It does, it does! I don't get haircuts anymore, the barber pulls hard on my chest hairs and it pulls the hair on my head back in. Much better system. :-P

I'm 5 months out and can eat anything. I've tried jerky and my stomach didn't even grumble, but I did thoroughly chew it before swallowing. When I try a new food, I take a very small bite (1/2 teaspoon size) and wait 5 minutes. If after 5 minutes and my stomach is okay, I have had no problems eating more. And I saw it but didn't buy it today - Oberto's BACON JERKY at Wal-mart! Nom nom nom! Can life get any better? :-)

Yea, and it pulls your chest hairs out too when they take off the electrodes the next morning. :-P

Yep, I was tired and exhausted every day for over a month. Then things started to pick up and was feeling my old self again.

I agree with enigmachik, I'd rather have loose shrinkly skin rather than tight and fat.

I was in denial right up to the time they rolled me into the O.R. When I had to scoot from the gurney to the operating table, then it hit me, "Sh*t's gittin real up in here!"

I never felt guilty about eating post-sleeve. But I did feel scared. I was afraid I'd eat too much and stretch out my sleeve and sabotage myself. As far as feeling hungry goes, if you are like me, pasta triggers my hunger. If there were noodles in the chicken soup, I know that the noodles would make me hungrier, the more I ate and after a couple of hours, I'd have a carb crash and be hungry again. But when I was only 1 week out, I wasn't allowed anything but full liquids - like protein shakes and chicken broth or creamy soups with no solid particles.

I am a popcorn fiend when it comes to movies. Gotta have my fix. My plan is to pay for half my friend's large popcorn (he gets one free refill too) and bring in a small paper bag and fill it from his bucket. Although, now that I think about it, he likes that awful butter topping on his - it upsets my stomach. Ok, plan B, smuggle in a pack of white cheese popcorn from Wal-mart! Although I do prefer my popcorn hot. They have self heating meals now, can't wait till there are self popping pop corn bags. But it could get noisy using one in a theater. :-P

You can always hope they win a Darwin Award for their stupidity.

Well, maybe he's more open minded than you are? And the jelly is for anyone, I'm a sharing kinda guy. Maybe you and he would be open to an arrangement along these lines?

So, you wanna just skip the chit chat and get married - or what?

Does the salad book have any recipes that use syrup or jelly - I prefers jelly. Warning Don't Watch This Video If You Are Squeemish Not Safe For Work

At that price, I bought 2. Just in case I want to read it more than once.

I believe anyone that has 85% of their stomach removed will lose weight. You can't help but lose, if you are limited to 4oz of food every few hours. Now the big question is, where is your hunger coming from? Only you can figure that part out. Is it from emotional eating, boredome, stress, or is it because you have hunger pangs caused by the hormone ghrelin? From my own experience, I knew that my hunger was real (even though I had eaten 2 hours earlier, I'd be hungry again). It wasn't until I talked to my surgeon that he told me that I had an excess of the hormone ghrelin (produced by the stomach). The bigger the stomach, the more of the hormone produced. The surgery stopped my hunger pangs. I have not had that nagging sense of hunger (other than my stomach growling) since surgery 7 weeks ago. And 4 or 5 oz of food keeps me satisfied, whereas before, I could eat 1 lb of steak and know I'd be raiding the fridge in 2 hours. And I don't have any cravings anymore for certain flavors. Whereas before, I'd think about something that would taste good and I couldn't get the thought out of my head until I ate it - and a lot of it, not just a small portion. Don't get me wrong, you can sabotage yourself after surgery. There are foods, called slider foods, that are calorie dense (ice cream, peanut butter) that pass through the stomach quickly, so it's possible to eat more. And it is possible to just graze all day on snacks that are high in calories. The sleeve gave me the control over my eating that I needed. When I eat, I have full control of what I eat. I can pass on the donuts or just have 1 and be satisfied. With the exception of pasta - it triggers my sugar cravings. So I have to be real careful about eating it. But I don't know if I'd the same success if my hunger was tied to my emotions instead of hormones. I really believe food was an addiction - one you can't quit and never touch again. Other addictions can be quit and never touched again. But what if a heroine addict, smoker or alcoholic knew they had to take some every day or their body would die? What if they had 75 TV channels that ran commericals for cigarrets every 10 minutes during their favorite programs? Or had reality programs (like the best places to pig out or the food challenges) devoted to the best places to get their fix and showed people taking drugs and loving it? Could the addicts just reduce the amount they took every day and never over do it or would they give in to the nagging voice in their head telling them how good it was going to feel? Ok, rant over. :-)

The pain! Oh God, the pain! - no, just kidding. They put me under and I woke up with a scratchy throat. I wouldn't even have noticed my throat if I hadn't been warned that it might be sore. I was under for about 20 minutes, woke up and was back in the car headed home within the hour. If they haven't told you, they won't let you drive yourself home, but I felt alert and had no after effects of the anesthesia. They gave me the same stuff used on Micheal Jackson, to put him to sleep. It was funny, they put a mouth guard in so I wouldn't bite the scope, said they were about the put me under. Next thing I know, I'm waking up (thinking that I had just blinked my eyes) and I put the mouth guard back in because I thought I had let it slip out. The staff was laughing at me, cause I didn't realize the procedure was over.

It's been 7 weeks and my taste buds have been outta whack ever since surgery. Today I noticed that things are getting back to normal. Up until today every flavor had to be very intense or it was bland. I was mixing my Crystal Light 3 packs to a gallon, instead of the normal 2. But today, it just tasted too sweet and I had to water it down. When I went out to eat tonight, I noticed the subtle flavors of my food - it actually tasted good. Normally I just bury it in salsa for the intense taste of salsa, what's under it didn't really matter. So I think things are getting back to normal. And one else experience something similar with flavors, smell, or touch?

I'm a groggy star. These videos were taken minutes after my return from surgery. I have watched so many videos from other sleevers who shared what they went through, I felt obligated to share my experience (even though I don't like my own pictures). I was really groggy and in a lot of pain. And hittin that morphine drip like a muthar fu(shut your mouth!). :-P <object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/pS6v-BC-Vks?hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/pS6v-BC-Vks?hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> <object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/NxqiW3LFqKk?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/NxqiW3LFqKk?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>