breezy

Thanks, Christie. I saw your walk marathon pictures so I know you understand what I mean about joining the parade instead of just watching from the sidelines!

Thanks all for your comments. I found out how to post a picture so here is one from that wonderful day!:thumbup:

Cool pictures! Thanks for posting them. I'm beginning to think that being more active is a "mindset" before it is a reality. You look like you are having fun and enjoying yourself. I wonder if I could picture myself like that, if I would more eagerly plan exercise? You are inspiring me!

I'm with Oregon Daisy -- I'm worried about my turkey neck!!!! I can see in some before/after pictures now that my face is less round and my cheekbones are beginning to show. I've always thought that the weight made me look older, so I'm hopeful that I'll look alright. I've heard that it may take a couple of years for my skin to adjust to my size. Anyone else heard that? How does everyone feel about cosmetic surgery at our age? Anyone done anything?

Good for you! I've found that my clothes getting too big is a mixed blessing! It's great because it means I'm losing and getting nearer my goal, but I also found it is kind of sad. Some of the things I am packing away were pretty and I'll miss them! I'm dressing myself from Goodwill and Ross until I get to my weight loss goal. My wardrobe is getting pretty narrow!

I understand about having a special day and making the wrong food choices. I had my sleeve done on April 13th, so I am pretty close to you. I'm through the recovery period and now am faced with the same issues I had before. What I eat. Thank goodness the sleeve prevents me from consuming 5000 calories at a time, but it still will let me put bad things in my mouth!:smile: As many people have posted, it's just a tool. The rest is up to me. You are doing great by tracking your calories, protein & carbs. I should do that more closely. And I've started exercising like you, too. I've been trying to get my heart rate up with some aerobics. It sounds to me that you know what you need to do. Now the work begins for both of us. We just need to do it!

I thought it might have to do with fried foods but I wasn't sure! :smile: Grandgirls are a great excuse to get exercise, aren't they!

I haven't had a real hunger pang since the surgery. Just a empty, hollow feeling when I get hungry. I'm basically eating 3 meals with a snack, and drinking all the fluids I can. I'm trying to stay away from empty calories (like sweet drinks, chips). Just this last week I started exercising with a girlfriend. I've never been to the south. What is southern home cooking?

I've been doing that, too! It does help!

I though dumping syndrome had to do with diarrhea! Ok, now I know! I feel fine today. My body is a little sore from running with the grandchildren, but the tummy is fine. Thanks! Edit: I research "dumping syndrome" and that WAS what I had! I sure will be more careful in the future!

I like the way you phrased that! It DID feel magical at first. Now I'm realizing that the pounds are not going to continue to melt away like they did that first month. Good food choices and exercise are the tools that I have to add to the sleeve. I find that I have to plan for what I am going to eat if I want to make good choices. If I wait until I'm "hungry" (though hungry feels differently now), I'm more likely to grab something that has more calories than substance. Chili cheese fritos is a good example (I LOVE those). What a journey we are on!

One of the reasons I got the sleeve was that I was having a hard time getting on the floor to play with my two beautiful grandgirls (3 and 5 years old). I wanted to be able to go to the beach and make sandcastles with them. Yesterday, we went to the beach and I had SO MUCH ENERGY!!! I played racing games with them, and played in the surf, and got down in the sand and worked on a sandcastle. My body is so much lighter and easier to move! My grandgirls loved it and thought Grandma was a lot of FUN! This was a very meanful goal for me. It also signified joining in the activity and fun instead of watching life go by. I had gotten to the point that I thought I was just too old to do those things (I'm 56). Later, we drove by Saddle Mountain and I remembered that I thought my knees were shot and I would never be able to climb it again. But then I realized that it was not my age but my weight that was keeping me from doing it. My knees have improved since losing weight. So that means my next goal should be climbing Saddle Mountain again!!!!!! I want to get fit again! I've started aerobic exercise with a girlfriend and I'm going to look for other opportunities to work and move my body. I want to get strong again like I was when I was young. I'll never be 20, but it would be great to join life again!

I made another eating mistake yesterday, Jillian. I went to the beach with my family and on the way home I was WAY tired, so when the family stopped at Dairy Queen, I got a small blizzard. I ate about 1 cup of it rather quickly, then even though I wasn't feeling like it was backing up on me, I stopped. About 10 minutes later, I started feeling like I was going to throw up. Got dizzy, started sweating, cramps in my tummy. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I didn't throw up and was able to finish driving home after a few minutes, but boy, I got close to throwing up in the Dairy Queen parking lot! That would have been embarrasing. I should have just taken a couple bites of someone else's treat and not bought one for myself. But everytime I make a mistake like that, it teaches me. I think it was a combination of too much eaten, too cold, and TOO SWEET. I guess it's only been 2 months since I was able to eat anything and everything in sight and I'm still not used to having to make the changes. But almost throwing up is a compelling lesson!

Interesting. I can see that mushy might be ok after the first period, but it's hard to picture going to solid foods as quickly as some of our members have been released to do. But if they've had no problems, that's great for them!

Wow Jane_J! I just noticied your ticker! 111 lbs lost!!!!! 7 lbs to go!!!! Impressive. I don't want to hijack the thread, but I was wondering how long it took you to lose that? I want to lose 100 lbs and wonder how long it might take me...

No problem! One of the differences I've noticed, too, is that everyone seems to have a different timeline on when to go to the next food stage. I was 2 wks on clear liquid, 2 wks on full liquids, 2 wks on pureed food, then to regular food. What did your doctor tell you?

My doctor told me that B12 is absorbed through the stomach lining, and since I have less of that, I may neet B12 shots. I've compared this to posts from members who take the B12 under the tongue and I'm not sure what to think. I guess I need to research it. Anyway, my doctor did take blood for tests and they all came back in the normal range, so I guess I'm ok.

I didn't start salads until about 6 weeks out. I chewed thoroughly and ate slowly (probably because I was afraid I was going to have a problem). Nothing. Everything went through fine. I was especially relieved because I LOVE fresh vegetables. I started with just lettuce, cucumber, and green onions to see if I tolerated that ok. Now I'm adding other vegetables as I go. I'm just one person though. It has impressed me as I read everyone's posts that we are all so different. What one person can do, another one may not be able to. So start slow and pay attention to what your body is telling you. My two cents.

They sure are! They bring me SUCH JOY! Part of the reason I wanted to do something serious about my weight is that I was having trouble getting down in the sand with them at the beach and playing! Or getting on the floor to play. I didn't want to miss that because of my weight! It's getting better now, and I just started exercising with a girlfriend. I'm hoping to build a great sandcastle with them, or bury them in sand, this summer!:scared0:

You weren't a pain in the rear! Don't think that. I think this forum is a wonderful way to reach out to others who are going through, or who have gone through, this process. It's a place where you can be truthful about what is going on with you. I know I am having to re-learn how to eat, too! I'm at 8 weeks out and I find myself shoving food in my mouth like I used too. Too big of spoonfuls and trying to put more in my mouth before I've fully swallowed the first glob! I think I thought that since I accepted that I could only eat a small portion, I could still eat it the way I used to. Dumb, I know, but I wasn't really paying enough attention to what I was doing. I wasn't waiting long enough between swallows to allow the food to go all the way down. I'm trying to pay more attention now and measure out my food. I'm also concentrating on trying to get more liquids (Protein shakes included) and less on eating solid foods. Don't worry about sharing mistakes. We all make them.

You and I have lost just about the same amount of weight in the same timeframe, Grace! It DOES feel good!

Oh Jillian, I don't have any better advice than above, but I feel for what you are going through! Please keep us updated on what is happening with you.

Dr. Aceves told me I had to wait until 8 weeks out to do sit-ups or lift anything over 10 lbs. I've got to admit that I've been lifting my grandchildren (too hard to resist) since about 6 weeks out. Funny thing is that I showed the incision wounds (healed over) to my 5 year old grandgirl, to try to explain why I couldn't lift her, and when she looked upset at the ow'ies, I told her I had the doctor give me extra belly buttons! Now she asks me if I can get into the hot tub (I couldn't until they healed over) and I tell her I can float better than her because I have extra belly buttons. Sounds stupid writing it down, but you should have heard those little girls laugh!

I had one of these recently and it was reading this thread that helped me with my response: (Friend) "I thought about you when I was at a buffet this weekend and felt sorry for you that you could not eat what you wanted...don't you miss that?" (me) "No, I don't miss anything, especially my CPAP machine or my knees hurting when I go down stairs."