LilMissDiva Irene

Fruit juices are best consumed either diluted or if possible find the No Sugar Added varieties. They are considered a slider and easy to bump up your sugars and calories for the day. Also be careful with juices that are higher in acids early out. That would include pineapple juice, as well as any citrus fruits or juices. Good luck!

Good afternoon all, Please stay on topic. Inflammatory remarks will begin to receive formal warnings via PM by the Moderation staff. Please remain respectful and supportive at all times regardless of personal feelings towards the topic. If anyone is unable to give respectful and helpful comments without getting into a back and forth with others, then please refrain from responding. Thanking you all in advance.

Hey everyone! We'd really love to see this group take off. It has been far too quiet!! We need to get ourselves situated with face to face meet ups for our areas. There are two new moderators for our personal group. That is FeedYourEye for the Sacramento/Valley areas and MeggieP for the Bay Area. Lets start conversing and getting some support group dates set up. Looking for ideas!!

Welcome to the losers bench Patrick! Keep resting. Every day gets better and better.

Great news!! Please tell him we are all here and thankful for prayers answered on a quick and easy surgery. Keep healing well, keep walking and keep sipping! Thank you Elka!

Take care and take it easy It's a learning curve!

Yes, or could be Damm Husband too... depends!

This Anything less IMO is not a real stall. Especially not if its only a few days.

Hi there neek, eggs can be one of the tough foods for some sleevers. Two was just too much. Next time work on only one. Pain in the chest and subsequent vomiting means you overfilled your tiny tummy. If you notice your stomach is giving you issues today, go on liquids for 24 hours to give your sleeve some recovery time. Take it slow getting back into solids. Take care!

Praying hard for you!!!! I'm truly shocked to read this... You're so young to go through that. However please know that if you weren't dieting for the sleeve you never would have found those tumors. You are on your way to better health in more ways that you originally thought. STAY STRONG!! Scared I'm sure is a normal response - but stay strong and FIGHT!! You have a little baby that needs you. If you can find any reasons to do that do it for her. In the mean time I'm here praying for you and I'm sure there are many others out there praying for you too. This journey you are now beginning may not make any sense right now, but it will in time. In the mean time though - forage on and stay positive.

Only time will help him to understand whether you will leave or not. If you are planning to keep the marriage working even when you are losing weight, then you will have to show him. I always do my best to show my husband that he's the only guy for me. He was very supportive of my choice but he would make comments sometimes in the beginning of worry I'd leave him if I got thin. Well I just kept proving to him over and over that I wouldn't and I didn't. I've been at goal now going on a year and we are still going strong. He is no longer worried. It just take a lot of time and a little bit of extra effort on your part to show him otherwise. Take care!

Lack of nutrients and just simple weight loss itself can cause hair loss. It's a respose that if it's lacking elsewhere as in the muscles and heart, the body will steal it from our skin/nails & hair. Biotin helps with re-growth only, it does not prevent hair from falling out. I do take Biotin and Vitamin E 3X per week and my skin/nails & hair are great. My hair and nails grow really fast and my hair is very thick just like before surgery. The best way to know if you're getting enough Protein right now is for you to log your food. www.myfitnesspal.com Minimum of 60g per day is standard, perhaps more if you're working out in any capacity. Don't forget to drink plenty of Water too. Only do the shakes if you have to, to up your protein, since you don't like them... but really daily protein minimums are a must.

Hiya Fred, welcome to VST! Sounds like you really have your plate full ( no pun intended! ) The sleeve is going to change you for the better but you will also change in more ways that just your appearance. None of them are bad, they will all make you a better person. Keep those communication lines open with your Dear Wife. If she's getting banded then she's going to go through a lot of emotions as well. Just stay open to one another and try your best to unerstand each of you will feel sensitive for some time. Getting off the sodas is the best thing, good for you. And you WILL be able to enjoy those grandbabies more! Take care and looking forward to following your journey!

Wants and Needs are two very different things. Do you really need that? Or do you just WANT it? It is also the very difference between feeling full and being satisfied... or even head hunger and REAL hunger. Good luck figuring all this out! ;o))

The results are always the greatest enjoyment. Proof all the hard work is WORKing! Keep it up, you have a lot to look forward to. Not only that, you will hit all your goals that much faster.

Yes!! You DEFINITELY MUST have your Protein. They are the building blocks of our bodies. Don't worry too much though, one day without it won't cause you to get sick but too many days like that will. You might even feel a little fatigued for a few days as a result. Take care of yourself! Sometimes that means doing things we don't like. Three weeks IS a long time to be low on protein. You could be getting enough with your food alone, but the only way to know is if you're logging your intake. 60g or more per day... no questions.

Oh my! I'm praying everything is okay with you. Definitely find out first if your heart is doing fine. Your Sleeve can happen any time. *hugs*

Yes definitely try something else. Any one product is not one size fits all. I also use Prilosec and really is the ONLY one that works for me. I buy the OTC from Walgreens (generic) with added Magnesium. It supposedly helps with absorption and it really does! I haven't had any issues what so ever since I've started using this particular make-up. Anyway a little added Magnesium never hurt anyone anyhow. Electrolytes are always a nice idea! All the best! I hope you will find something that works as well for you as what I've found works for me.

Wonderful! You will find the Nutritionist visits are extremely helpful. There is so much information to know, and of course knowledge is POWER! Continue on! Those months will fly by... promise.

That's so awesome!! It's great to feel good about ourselves! You're certainly rockin your thang lady, keep up the great work and keep always being happy for your progress!!

Hi there Jodi, welcome to VST! Well I'm certainly glad to see new faces all the time. Best wishes on your journey and on your 3 months pre-operative diet and nutrition meetings. Stay strong and keep fighting because ALL OF THIS IS worth it in the end. Take care and see you around!

I can't offer any more advice as everyone here has done such a fabulous job of that already. Just that I completely and whole heartedly understand all of the emotions that result from having to make that ultimate decision on letting one of our precious little furbabies go. I had rescued a cute little baby from the local shelter. She was set to be put down several times by the shelter but the lady had grown so attached and for some reason kept putting it off. I immediately fell for her, she was absolutely a sweetheart. Had crystal clear and pouty eyes, so I took her with me. It made the shelter lady happy as can be! Well long story short I ended finding out she had FIV. *cry* So I knew our time together would be short. I did everything I could for her until I felt it was really time for her to go. I cradled her all the time and babied her. I also had to keep her away from my other furbabies because it can be contagious to them. She would always climb up my shoulders to fall asleep. Man, do I ever miss her. I cried for weeks when I had to do the final goodbyes... it was just time. I still to this day wonder if I did it too soon? It just hurts and it's been 4 years now. I have the most beautiful photo of her encased in one of our cabinets. She was absolutely precious and I'm more thankful than sad to have given her a most happy and loving home for her last 18 months of life. *hugs* to you and your Wife. You both did the right thing.

Woohoo!!! And look at that, you're already more than half way to goal... you will be there in no time! I'm so happy for you (((hugs)))

I've had to have some heart to hearts with people in my life for the same reason. I think the fact is they don't always know exactly what to say, so whatever comes out is probably not worth saying at all. Perhaps you can just tell your Mom, "Hey Mom I love you very much and I appreciate your being happy for me - but you don't have to comment about my weight every single time you see me." <~~~ Make sure you're smiling when you say that. Sometimes that is enough. It takes the pressure off of her feeling like you expect her to say something and it takes the pressure off of you having to hold inside every crazy thing she mentions. LOL!! If only life were easy huh? Take care, and congrats on all your success thus far. You're doing fantatic.

Sir, being on a diet such as this can make us a bit sensitive. There are a lot of different personalities here, some are more blunt and some are a little softer (including myself). This doesn't mean any of those responses are not being supportive. Perception is reality when reading anything on a message board. I tend to ignore a lot of responses I see here as I do agree they can be wrapped a little nicer, but again that's just my opinion, and as such I choose how I respond. To me it all falls under whether we feel we are doing it right or not (perception of our own personal journey's). That does not mean I should project those same ideals on anyone else. I heard a quote just yesterday that read: "If you think you're doing everything right, then you're doing it wrong." I had to laugh because dangit if I don't see that so much. Not only here but all over the support websites. So, just take any response for what it is - someone's personal opinion. No opinion is fact. I personally think you're doing really good. You reached out in a way I understood it, and I'm glad more of the responses than not were able to help you out in your time of need. We don't need a perfect record to get the sleeve, that is what the sleeve is FOR in my opinion. It's my safety net... however, I'm still the one walking across that tight rope. Stay strong and keep fighting. As long as you're doing that, you will be just fine.