butterfyeffect

Donate them!! Know that you will never go back to that size, and own it!

I chose to keep the surgery a secret at work, because I didn't want to go through the hassle of having to get cleared by the employee health folks to come back to work (RN)... that said, I will gladly share the information about my surgery with anyone who wants to know how i've lost all the weight, but so far, although I've lost almost 50 pounds, only one person has been brave enough to say anything, which is fine by me! As far as friends and family know, I live far enough away from most of them that it hasn't been an issue, but if anyone asks, I'm willing to share!

Well, here I am again. Almost three months post-op, and just over halfway to my personal goal of 140 pounds. My surgeon said that 160 would be a very achievable goal for me, but I'm going to try and push it to 140, which would put me at a "normal" BMI of 24, something I have never achieved in my adult life... or my life period, really, since I've been overweight since I was eight or nine years old. Actually, my stretch goal is 135, since I will likely put a few pounds back on after the first year or so, at least that's what I understand from reading what some of the long-term sleeved folks have to say on the maintenance forums. Speaking of BMI, I now have to write about how annoying I find the whole thing. The person who "invented" the BMI scale never meant for it to be used how it is today. It was meant as a very quick way for healthcare professionals to estimate about what a person's healthy body weight should be, based on their height. It was never meant to be used as the only way for them to determine what a healthy weight should be for everyone, since people are different, we come in many different shapes and sizes! The classic example, of course is the body builder who falls into the obese category on the scale, yet has like 3% body fat. But then there are also those who fall into the "healthy" category, but who have no muscle tone whatsoever, and are in fact very unhealthy! Since I'm a nurse, I literally see this every day. I also see some very healthy people who happen to have higher BMI's. And yet I am supposed to mark "Obesity" as part of the health history for every patient I see with a BMI of over 25. (I don't do this, by the way.) Okay, off my soapbox, and on to what I am doing to make sure that I fall into that category of a healthy person with a healthy BMI... I have to admit that since shortly after my surgery, I have been very lazy about doing cardio. This is bad, since my surgeon has emphasized to me that exercise is the one thing that separates his very successful patients from his moderately successful patients (apparently he does not have any unsuccessful patients). For the first two weeks after surgery, I walked about two or three miles every day. But then, I didn't really have anything else to do. I wasn't working, I couldn't eat anything, I couldn't go in my pool. So I walked. Then I went on vacation, and didn't do anything active the whole time. And then I was back to work, but cleared for lifting. So I got back into my weight-lifting workouts, which I had always been pretty consistent with before surgery. I do them with my husband so it's fun, it only takes about 20-25 minutes, and I really see the results, which I like. I have never actually seen any results from doing cardio, I just did it because I knew I had to. But with weight lifting, I can feel my muscles getting bigger, and see them looking more toned. Now that they've slimmed down a bit, I actually think I have very nice legs! About a month ago however, my husband started bugging me about running. In the twelve and a half years we have known each other, he has never done any cardio consistently (and never really had to, since he's one of these people who can eat like a horse, and not gain an ounce). But I was always telling him that he should, since he is starting to get some old-man problems, like high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, despite being at a healthy weight (ahem, see my rant above). So I really wanted to encourage him, but I hate running! Or so I thought I did. I had tried to do the whole couch to 5k thing before my surgery, to help me get a jump on the weight loss, but had only made it through week two before I stopped. I just ran out of energy during my two week pre-op diet. And I really had no interest in going back to it, since it was really hard to do before my surgery. And it's Summer in Florida! Ninety degrees, and one hundred percent humidity everyday does not make for a pleasant run! But finally, after about two weeks of him bugging me about it I downloaded the C25K app again, and we headed out on our first run together... And guess what? It was kind of fun! Turns out going running when you weigh in the 180's is a completely different animal from running when you weigh in the 230's. Who knew? We now go running at sunset on our nights off, mostly on the golf course that's about a half-mile from our house. It's a gorgeous time of day, with the sun setting in the west, and the palm trees swaying in the breeze. Today we were treated to Mother Nature's firework show off to the east of us, with huge, puffy white cumulus clouds and awesome forks of lightning making them glow (miles away, very safe). The sand paths on the golf course are easier on the joints than sidewalks, and our run takes us over a bridge that we always see turtles hanging out under. It has become something that I truly look forward to doing three times a week, and after eleven years of marriage, my husband and I have discovered something new that we like to do together. We are already planning on running a 5k road race in December. Like many other bariatric surgery patients have before me, I feel like I've finally found my inner athlete!

I've heard people who took as little as one week, but that was mostly for people with desk jobs. I took four weeks off because of the lifting restriction (I'm a nurse) but I felt fine after two weeks, and probably could have worked, but didn't want to risk it.

I know how you feel... the other night as I was eating some broccoli and chicken with Protein cheese sauce over it, I realized that I was only eating it for the fuel, not because of the taste. That was a big revelation for me; I'm now "eating to live" rather than "living to eat". And that's how it should be!

I agree with what most of the others said... don't buy a lot of stuff for your post-op period. I have cans of unjury Protein powder sitting around that I didn't use, because after surgery I didn't like it as much. Bought three cans of refried Beans, only ate one. And I just threw away all of the sugar free popsicles that I bought, I was able to drink just fine after surgery, so never needed them. As far as stuff I brought to the hospital, the only things I would recommend that they didn't provide would be a heating pad (I got one of the old-fashioned hot Water bottles so I wouldn't have to plug it in), and an abdominal binder, which really helped when I was up walking around. Oh, and obviously whatever personal toiletries you prefer... keeping in mind that they probably won't let you take a shower. I brought moist towelettes that I used to wash my face and hands while in bed.

I took four weeks off as well, just because of the physical demands of my job (ER nurse). I felt good enough to go back after 2 weeks, but had the lifting restriction.

I paid 10,500 in South Florida as well (same surgeon as @cutiecake) Everything went incredibly smoothly, the hospital stay two days. No hoops to jump through, no psych eval, no NUT appointments to keep... I am very happy with my decision.

@QualTech I think it totally varies based on your surgeon what you're allowed at each stage. Mine allowed crackers and crisply toasted bread after week three... actually Ritz crackers with cheese, or a little tuna salad on top of them were one of the only things I could tolerate for a week or two there.

I went through a phase at about two weeks PO where I threw up almost everything other than liquids no matter how slowly and carefully I ate. I just worked through it, ate a lot of Soups and broths, and drank my Protein shakes. Finally at about 10 weeks out I can confidently eat just about anything as long as I go slow and chew thoroughly.

I don't have to look nice for work... no one cares if their nurse's scrubs are really baggy (which mine are getting). But I will pass this info on to my sister who is thinking about gastric bypass. Thank you!

That was on my surgeon's plan, but I drank regular Protein shakes, because of the sugar content. If the point is to shrink your liver, all of that sugar can't help!

I was only allowed very overcooked veggies until just recently. So I suppose if you cooked it to death it may be okay. Like to the point where you could mash it with a fork.

I vote Vitamins. If I take my vitamins on too empty a stomach, they cause a reaction that sounds just like what you're having. A few crackers settles it down right away.

I too, told my mom, and I guess because I never specified that it was a secret, she felt the need to mention it on Facebook! I had a private conversation with her about it, and she took the comment down, but the really funny thing is that when she had Gastric bypass a few years ago, it was a huge secret, and to this day she won't let us mention it to people who have probably at this point guessed what she did. But when the tables were turned, she had no problems telling the world about mine!

I have been lifting weights since I was cleared to by my doctor, but have really been slacking off on the cardio... have only done the rowing machine a couple of times, and zumba once. So my hubby and I re-started couch to 5k yesterday (I had gotten through week 2 before my pre-op diet started, then I just had no energy for it.) Let me tell you, running is much easier when you're 40 pounds lighter. I would almost call it fun! I'm actually pretty excited to do it again tomorrow.

Moscato does come in non-carbonated. It's one of my go-to wines, and no, it has never bothered my sleeve. Don't know about reds, as I'm not a big fan of red wine, really only drink it as Sangria.

My doctor said that diet soda is fine in moderation, as long as you don't mind the burping that comes with it. Since everything I eat or drink makes me burp now anyway, I have had a soda a few times since. But I have found that I don't crave it as much as I used to. My go-to drink is now iced tea mixed with Crystal Light lemonade. I drank a whole pitcher of it today.

Well, I just re-read my last few posts, and can't help but be proud of how far I've come. I will be 10 weeks out from surgery on Tuesday, and feel pretty much normal. But a new normal, where I'm not hungry all of the time, and when I am, I get full really quickly on a small amount of food. Sometimes I even almost forget that I had surgery. But then I look at the scale, which is down more than 40 pounds, and I realize that I never would have been able to do that if I hadn't had some help. Because my old normal was scary bad, and I never want to go back to it. My old normal was that I would wake up in the morning with a growling stomach. I would usually think about what I was going to eat before I had even gotten out of bed. Before I finished breakfast, I was already planning what I would have for lunch, and before lunch was over, I would already be thinking about dinner. And the last thing I would usually do before bed would be to eat a late-night snack. Like a half a package of Oreos kind of snack. My entire day literally revolved around food. Not healthy. My new normal is that I get up in the morning, and I'm usually thirsty. I'm getting the proper amount of fluids - at least 64 ounces per day, but I think compared with the amounts that I used to drink, it's still not that much. And it's summer in Florida... So, yeah, I'm usually pretty dry when I wake up. I still can't gulp down a glass of water like I used to. But I can guzzle it pretty well. So, I usually get up and drink a glass or two of water or Crystal Light before I even think about eating. And even then, it's usually because my husband says he's hungry that I actually go to the trouble of eating some food. And when I do eat, it's usually about a half-cup of something. I can get in more if it's something like soup. But in general I don't eat that much soup anymore, because I'm trying to be proactive about eating more solid-type foods. So far, I can stomach most things if I eat them slowly enough. That continues to be a challenge for me. I am usually mindful of what I'm doing, it's a challenge more often just because of the time required in order to eat at the proper pace... I'll be trying to eat dinner before leaving for work, for instance. Or on a half-hour lunch break at work. That's when I run into trouble. I'm better off just keeping my food at my work station, and taking a bite here or there. Most night nurses don't take breaks anyway, so no one really finds that to be weird. As far as what I eat, I do find that the softer textures still go best. Grilled chicken or fish can still be a problem. I do better if it's served with some kind of sauce. Better still if it's cooked in the sauce though. For instance, we're having chicken tikka masala that was done in the slow cooker for dinner tonight. Perfect food for my tiny tummy. I've just in the past week started experimenting with fresh vegetables a little. Just a bite or two of lettuce, tomato. So far so good. Also just this week I've eaten pasta twice, and had no issues with it. And last night, I ate my first piece of un-toasted bread. Just a small one, but it went quite well, I thought. None of the "stuck" feeling that I've heard others complain about. What still isn't working, and I am so very sad about it, is spicy foods. Just can't seem to tolerate them. I ate a few bites of Buffalo chicken at work the other night. I'd just been craving the Buffalo sauce. It stayed down, but I got the sliming sensation, and it burned in my chest for a long time. I have always loved spicy foods, so I'm really hoping that this reaction goes away at some point. Other than that, though I am incredibly happy with my new normal.

I'm at about 40 pounds as well... I haven't had to buy new clothes yet, but that's because I had tons of clothes in my closet that didn't fit, and now they do, so it's like i have a new wardrobe As far as people noticing, that happened to me at about 30 pounds, but only my husband, and one person at work has commented. I have been taking progress pictures, and I could see a difference at 20 pounds... and that's about when it clicked that this wouldn't be like other "diets" for me. This is real, and permanent.

My thoughts exactly. If the calories in/out formula worked, we all could have just lost weight with diet and exercise, but it doesn't, and that's why some of us have to resort to other means. I have eaten 1500 calories a day while working out for 45 minutes 5 days a week in the past and lost nothing, while my husband just needs to think about losing weight and does it. It has more to do with metabolic rates, body composition, etc. My advice is just to focus on getting your Protein and Fluid in, do what you can for exercise, and not think about the scale for a week or two. When you go back to it you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.

I'm nine weeks out, and my diet is pretty varied. I haven't tried fresh veggies or fruit yet (my surgeon says 3 months for those) but I eat pretty much everything else in moderation. Typical day is three meals, and two Snacks, for instance, here is today's plan (I work nights, so keep that in mind: 5pm: Boca burger, on a Joseph's flax, wheat bran pita (I'll probably eat about 3/4) 10pm: Premier Protein shake 2am: homemade quiche with ham, cheese, broccoli 5am: string cheese 8am: 1/2 of a Thomas's bagel thin, with Peanut Butter That's about 750 calories, 75 grams protein, 30 grams net carbs according to MFP I average 600-800 calories per day, get at least 60 grams of protein, and try and keep the net carbs (carbs minus fiber) under 50. Hope this helps!

I can remember after my Mom's WLS, when she first got down to a size 14, she said she wanted to wear the pants inside out so that everyone could see the tag! Now she's a size 10! Congrats on the NSV, lot's more to come!

@@slimmindown I'm actually really happy to see that you don't track anymore. My mom had WLS and has been very successful, and she has never tracked anything. She just adds Protein powder to her morning coffee, and figures that covers her protein-wise. I have been tracking, mostly just to see that my Protein grams are at or above 60 per day. Once I can eat enough food that I can be reasonably sure I'm getting enough protein, I plan on stopping as well. I am of the mindset that I didn't have this surgery in order to be dieting for the rest of my life, I did it so that I'd be able to control my weight like a normal person does - by just eating enough to satisfy me, and making smart choices most of the time.

I'm in Sarasota, Florida. I was sleeved in Boca Raton, though so I don't go to any support meetings that my surgeon's office sponsors, it's just too far. So I would love to have an online support group!