TamaraS

Went for my 12 day follow-up today. They told me it was the internal stitches in the muscle hurting and give it a couple more weeks.

Thanks all for responding to this. Im having pain on my right side as well. It feels like i may be doing too much. I went back to work two weeks after surgery and i try to walk five minutes every hour. Even if i sit at my desk wrong it hurts. It feels like my body woiuld rather be stretched out than sitting in front of a desk. Im sure it will get better.

Yep. It was the worst part of the whoole thing. But att five weeks I woke up one day and it was gone. It really sucked while it lasted though. My surgeon said it was a pulled stitch there.

I have the same thing of and on. I really noticed it one day I went to take my dog to the vet, came home, went right back out to the video game store, then left there and walked around Meijer grocery shopping for an hour, I figured I had done too much. When I went to bed that night it was gone when I woke up a few hours later to use the bathroom. I think it's normal too I also thought it was weird cause I don't have an incision in that area, mine are just above it.

Very familiar! Had similar pain thru my 5th week & on occasion it was so bad I thought I needed to go to the E.R. (I am a nurse & definitely don't have a low pain threshold.)
Went to the surgeon to rule out a herniation, all was normal! Now I am 7 weeks & it is all gone!

Same issue for me and I was sleeved about 3 weeks ago too (10/3/12). It was terrible the other day but I got out and did a long walk - 1 mile - and it miracously went away - feeling great now! I was told it could be a gas bubble trapped from surgery.

Have you been following any lifting restrictions? Don't want to be lifting anything too heavy too soon.
The discomfort you are feeling sounds familiar. But don't let unknown pain go on too long before checking with your doc.
I did have a little aching pain in approximately the same area when I was in the first month range. I have an incision in that area. Hope you feel better soon

My surgery was 12/14 so you are close to me. I forgot how many grams of carbs my dietician told me to stay under if I am still trying to lose and she is on vacation. I am sticking to 800 a day until I reach my goal. Only 18 lbs. away! YAY!

I am 3 months out, I do 800 calories a day, atleast 60 gram protein, no more than 70 carbs. I'm losing 3-5 pounds a week. I do atleast 5 hours of cardio and strength training a week As well.

I am 15 weeks out and can barely get in over 800 calories a day. But I feel great and I am still losing. 18 pounds to my goal.

The only time I saw significant loss was when I kept to around 600 calories a day <30g's carbs in my first 6 months. Since then as my calories have gone up, so have my struggles to lose every frickin' ounce increased.

I started at 325, was 321 immediately pre-surgery on July 26th, and am now 288 =)

My highest weight was 489, on sept 2 it was 455 today it is 438 so I hope all goes well for me on wed 12th, surgery day!

Oh wow so totaly not looking forward to that, I might just have to empty the fridge and lock my self in the house that week!

Ok now I'm hungry and I am no good in the kitchen off I go to make a mess!!

I hate to break this to you, but zero calorie spray butter is NOT zero calories! What you are dealing with is the ugly truth of the federal government and lobbyists. In truth anything that has .5g or less per serving can be listed as zero calories. That is why the serving size is only 1-5 sprays. The sad reality is that the entire bottle contains 900+ calories and 90 grams of fat!

Sounds like you're doin great! 8 miles?! Great job,I hope I can get up to that quickly! I am from Modesto too! I was sleeved by Dr. Coates here in Modesto. I am 3 weeks out,will be a month out on Wednesday.

Here is a real interesting article about carbs:
http://www.marksdail...rate-continuum/
I was looking for a threshold of what constitutes "low carb". I am usually teetering around 100g. I was never scared of carbs, but I guess since it seems to work for others, maybe I should try it. But then, I just hate the thought of trying to figure out good carbs, bad carbs in my log. I mean, an orange has 20g of carbs, and I don't want to fear those - how do I split that in MFP.
Anyway, I found the below really interesting, here is part of the article that I'd like to share. From that, I will really try to stay between 50 and 100g:
300 or more grams/day - Danger Zone!
Easy to reach with the “normal” American diet (cereals, Pasta, rice, bread, waffles, pancakes, muffins, soft drinks, packaged Snacks, sweets, desserts). High risk of excess fat storage, inflammation, increased disease markers including Metabolic Syndrome or diabetes. Sharp reduction of grains and other processed carbs is critical unless you are on the “chronic cardio” treadmill (which has its own major drawbacks).
150-300 grams/day – Steady, Insidious Weight Gain
Continued higher insulin-stimulating effect prevents efficient fat burning and contributes to widespread chronic disease conditions. This range – irresponsibly recommended by the USDA and other diet authorities – can lead to the statistical US average gain of 1.5 pounds of fat per year for forty years.
100-150 grams/day – Primal Blueprint Maintenance Range
This range based on body weight and activity level. When combined with Primal exercises, allows for genetically optimal fat burning and muscle development. Range derived from Grok’s (ancestors’) example of enjoying abundant vegetables and fruits and avoiding grains and sugars.
50-100 grams/day – Primal Sweet Spot for Effortless Weight Loss
Minimizes insulin production and ramps up fat metabolism. By meeting average daily Protein requirements (.7 – 1 gram per pound of lean bodyweight formula), eating nutritious vegetables and fruits (easy to stay in 50-100 gram range, even with generous servings), and staying satisfied with delicious high fat foods (meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds), you can lose one to two pounds of body fat per week and then keep it off forever by eating in the maintenance range.
0-50 grams/day – Ketosis and Accelerated Fat Burning
Acceptable for a day or two of Intermittent Fasting towards aggressive weight loss efforts, provided adequate protein, fat and supplements are consumed otherwise. May be ideal for many diabetics. Not necessarily recommended as a long-term practice for otherwise healthy people due to resultant deprivation of high nutrient value vegetables and fruits.

It is so strange and I looked at your profile and you are still young, 31 right? I am also 31 about 15 lbs heavier than you. I am so sorry this has happened to you. I really REALLY hope for yourself that you continue on through this journey. my thoughts are with you (((hugs)))

Go to realself.com--the cost varies by region, but you can get a good idea about the range. Also the surgeries are rated by how satisfied the patients were with the procedures.

Thank you EVERYONE!!! You have no idea how much your comments have helped me!!!! And I am going to make my husband hide the scale for at least a week!!! This is a huge step for me. It will give me time to focus on just moving and eating right!!!
Thanks again everyone!

I was close at 309pounds to start. I lost 25 during the 6 month pre-op and was 284pounds on surgery day Aug. 1st. I have lost another 24 in the 5 weeks since my surgery. All went well for me, I have been able to meet all liquid and protein totals every day. Excited for you, it is so nice to have the sleeve to help me with the weight struggle I have had for so long.

Wonderful! Best of luck with a speedy recovery - I was 318 at the start - 221 this morning and had my surgery May 21, 2012.

Deep breaths! I had my surgery a day before you and I went through a 3 week long stall. It felt like FOREVER. But, it wasn't. Eventually the scale started moving again and when it did, it ran! I have been going well since then. Your body is adjusting. It's normal. During my stall I freaked - is this all I'm going to lose? Did I fail this weight loss too? Was this small of weight even worth it? Hormones were going crazy.
The bottom line is I tried just about everything. Switching up calories, working out more, eating more, eating less, increasing Protein, decreasing carbs, increasing Water. Nothing worked because what my body really needed was just time. It's probably what yours needs too. You're rebuilding your glycogen stores, holding water, and whatever other reorganizing it feels like doing.
This is what helped me get through it:
1. Put the scale away for as long as possible. The days I brought myself to not peek, I felt much better.
2. Try not to stress. There is some research that says stress increases cortisol, which can cause weight retention.
3. Rant, rave, etc in your blog/journal/to your friends whenever you need to get it out. Sometimes just getting the frustration off your chest helps...at least it helps me
4. Read through every stall post on here - You are not alone! Most of us stall and freak at some point. 100% normal
5. Log your eating on MFP or a similar website - Helps keep you accountable so that you don't slip up because of frustration
6. Keep yourself busy. The more you're doing other things, the more calories you burn, the less you think about the scale
7. Assume that you are still on the stall. If you're pretty sure you're still on it, it will cause less frustration/loss of expectation if you step on the scale and you are. If you step on and you're not, what an excited surprise
8. Measure yourself. You are probably still losing inches.
9. Take pictures. Do you look any thinner than pre-op? Yes? Something to feel good about
10. Write down all your NSVs. You are kicking butt! The scale is not the only way to show progress
Hang in there. It's hard. It sucks. But it ends eventually!

I was in a stall and I upped my calories significantly for one day and ate things I probably shouldn't have. Then the next day dropped 4lbs and went back to losing. I went back to lowering my calories after.