theoldmusicbox

i had insomnia for about the first 4 weeks, after that, i gradually got back to normal.

along with www.emilybites.com, also check out www.dashingdish.com it is a members only recipe site with a pay what you can membership fee. i am also broke, so i put 0$ in the monthly fee section, and she still let me be a member. these are my go to sites. emilybits meals are family friendly (my family loves her recipes) and most of them can be made for 10 bucks or less. the 4 cheese and sausage stuffed shell pasta is a favorite at my house. feeds my family of 5 for almost 2 complete meals and costs about $12 bucks to make. the baked pizza spaghetti is about the same. and the cupcake meals are awesome, cost about 10 bucks and 1 hour baking and gives my wife AND me lunch for an entire week. dashing dish has a giant 1 minute breakfast cookie that packs a punch of protein for under 200 calories, it tastes like a warmed up no bake cookie. myself, my wife and my kids love it and each one might cost a grand total of about 2 bucks to make. and she has many other great creations as well. good luck, hopefully we can all get out of the money rut soon. but until then, you don't have to sacrifice good food.

you Miss, are a rock star, and should be very proud of yourself.

they give the percentages based on averages. be above average! my surgeon told me that my goal of achieving 220 or less was 'lofty' but with hard work, it could be done. i started at 373 (i'm only 5'6") i was a 56" waist and a 5-6x shirt. now, 6 months later i am still only 5'6" (i was hoping i'd get taller too) but i am 215 and wear 34" waist and 1-2x shirt. i know we get sick of hearing it, but the sleeve is your tool. how much and how wisely you use your tool will determine your success. and based on averages, it only takes 1 person getting a 10-20% to blow your average. shoot for your 80-100% and let the chips fall where they may. i have been shooting to lose 198. i've lost 160 and am only 6 months out. my lofty goal could well become my wonderful reality. but honestly, if i never lose another pound but am able to maintain my current weight, i will consider vsg successful, because now, i feel like a new man. shoot for the stars, i hope you make it!

starting weight april 1 2012 - 373 surgery weight june 5 2012 - 323 weight today jan 4 2013 -215 goal weight soon - 175 good luck, don't get discouraged, it is worth the wait. my advice though, is start making changes to your food choices now, it will make it easier later!

unfortunately, whether you lose the weight through surgery, or whether you lose it over a few years of diet and excercise, losing that much weight will leave you with the excess skin. until i finally hit the lottery, i have decided that my excess skin is just a reminder of a life that i don't miss. and hey, i never looked good fat, but at least now i look good in clothes, so, i'll take it. and, getting approved hard or easy will depend on your dr and your insurance. good luck

i agree. you dont HAVE to drink the shakes, it is just an easy way to get a good portion of your protein in. something i also do, is bake things with the powder used to make shakes. i add the powder to a lot of things, and most of the time, it isn't noticible by taste, but it adds a good amount of protein.

Here is my list of reasons that the sleeve was best FOR ME. 1) duodenal switch was WAY too extreme for my case. 2) I know several people with lap bands. It requires a lot of maintenance visits to the dr for adjustments. I couldn't get past having a foreign object in my body forever. I've seen the folks I know cheat their way around the band, and I knew I needed something that would be more difficult to overeat with. My surgeon told me that he removed more bands than he put in last year. 3) my aunt had gastric bypass. She lost a lot of weight and is doing well. However, she constantly has to focus on malnutrition because of the malabsorbtion that comes with bypass. And, she kinda has that 'sickly' look of weightless that seems to follow bypass patients. Bypass also has the side effect of 'dumping syndrome' that she has explained and I didn't want to deal with. 4) with the sleeve, all of my insides are still in the same order that God put them in. Everything still works the same without any detours. While I do have to take some Vitamins and supplements, it's nothing like the other surgeries require. I don't have malabsorbtion, because I still have a stomach. I don't get dumping because it still works like it's supposed to. I just can't eat nearly as much as I used to. My surgeon said that he expects the sleeve to become the premier wls. The best advice I have is, regardless of which surgery you choose, start now at finding new foods. You don't want to go through the surgery just to eat the same crap that made you need it in the first place. Contrary to popular belief, healthy food does not have to suck. If it did, I would not have had the success I've had so far. I'm six months postoperative and only 38 pounds from goal. And my goal was to lose 198 pounds. Here are some sites I use that have helped me. Www.Emilybites.com Www.dashingdish.com And google bariatricfoodie because she is awesome but I can never remember the address. Hopefully, this was helpful to you. Good luck on your journey.

i've lost 160 so far. and, unfortunately, no, john holmes has not been reincarnated. no 16" or even otr's 4.5" increase have been accomplished. however, yes, mr wiggly has returned and not only am i so very happy that we can speak face to face again, instead of around a mountain, but yeah, it's a noticable difference. more than that though, is all of the ways that skinny sex is much better. so many more possibilities. much more stamina and staying power. some nights, i feel like a teenager again.

the youngest weight i remember is that in the 7th grade, i was about 5' tall and weighed 155. by 18, i was 5'6" and 185. by 20 i was 5'6" and 220. highest recorded weight was 384. i was also told that the sleeve would do about 1/2 of the excess weight which would have been losing 99 and being a 5'6" 274 pounds. (i think they tell you that so that you won't be dissappointed if you dont lose it all, and so that if you make it to your goal, you feel like a rockstar) i started the pre op diet in april 2012 at 5'6" and 373 pounds. i was sleeved on june 5, 2012. i have lost a total of 160 pounds and am currentl at 213, 6 months post op, so, i have well passed the 1/2 of the excess and am only about 35 pounds from my goal of 175, but honestly, if i lose another 15, i will be satisfied. i told my doctor that i didn't want to go through this surgery and still be fat when it stopped working. he told me that that would mostly be up to me. how strict i follow the diet and what kind of excesize and activity level that i maintain would determine my success. the best advice i can give you. learn from other sleevers, but don't compare yourself to other sleevers. we all have a different experience. some lose fast, some lose slow. but hey, if you are losing at all, you are ahead of the game. good luck.

Hey buddy, Healthier food doesn't have to suck! I promise. Check out www.Emilybites.com Www.bariatricfoodie.com And Www.dashingdish.com Dashing dish has a recipe for a Breakfast cookie that is amazing! And, if you like to bake, Emilybites will get you your fix. I've lost 160 pounds since April this year. And I love to cook. And food is supposed to taste good. If it didn't, I wouldnt stick with it. Good luck

160 gone, 15-35 to go. (I'll decide based on how I look when I get the next 15) Sleeved June 5, 2012.

1 In a small bowl, mix all of the ingredients together (except for chocolate chips). Spread batter onto a a small microwave-safe plate, forming batter into a circle with a spoon. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. 2 Microwave for one minute, or until just cooked! Enjoy immediately, or prepare the night before for a quick Breakfast if desired! Ingredients 1/4 cup Oats (use gluten free if sensitive) 2 tbs Oat flour (oats ground into flour in blender or food processor) 1 1/4 tsp Baking powder 1/4 tsp Baking soda 1 tbs Protein powder 2 3 pkts Stevia (or sweetener of choice to taste) Pinch Salt 1/4 tsp Ground cinnamon 1 tbs Low sugar maple syrup, agave nectar or honey 3 tbs Plain low fat yogurt (I used Greek) 1 tsp Chocolate chips (I used mini) Optional: 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 6 WWP+*

yep, wwp+ is weight watchers points system. i dont personally follow ww, but some here do, so i try to add as many NUT (nutrition) type facts as i can so that no matter which system you use, you know what you're getting into.

I use PB2 instead of oat flour. This ends up at about 200 calories and 17 grams Protein. My teen son likes this as much as I do (or possibly more). It tastes like a warmed up no bake cookie! Lately, instead of spreading it on a plate, I've just been leaving it in the bowl, microwaving it, and enjoying it.

Mine went away by month 3 post op.

I really enjoy mine, and I've learned a lot by going. I actually look forward to it every month. They say that people that attend support group meetings tend to lose about, 20% more, so, that's why I started, but I gain a lot of knowledge by going. Started preop in april at 373, surgery in June at 325, currently December at 213! Support works wonders!

i use the 'cupcake meals' from www.emilybites.com because they are already portioned out, and they taste great. other than that, my NUT showed me a few neat tricks, such as a 'serving' of meat is no more that the size of a deck of cards. after a while, you will get used to how 'big' your portions should be, and you will know how much is too much before you put it in your mouth.

Yep. You are comparing yourself to others. While we all have similar experience, we all experience it differently. Keep your head up. I only lost 10 my first week, but I've lost almost 160 since April this year. We're all different, comparing is not fair to yourself. Enjoy your own journey.

Should have said c-pap machine, not clap machine. Haha

Started the year at 5'6" 373lbs, I was sleeved on June 5 this year. I'm currently 219. Here is a small list of the nsv's I've hit so far Ran a 5k with my teenage son Don't have to use the handicap potty in public restrooms Sit comfortably in a booth at a restaurant Don't have to hold my breath to tie my shoes My kids can hug me and touch hands behind my back for the first time in their lives I can buy clothes off the rack in almost any store now I have unsubscribed to casual male xl Got down to the weight I was when I got married 17 years ago Doctor took me off all of my bp meds Skinny sex is more fun Nsv's I'm still looking forward to Throwing my clap machine off a cliff that I had just climbed! Rock climbing. Even if it's just a rock wall, still not sure if I'm ready to try, but I wanna Being able to do 10 real chin ups 10k Good luck, If I can be successful at this, trust me, anyone can

I was a multiple times a day pre surgery, after surgery, I didn't go for almost 2 full weeks, and I almost cried the first time. If it's been a week and you haven't gone, take some Fiber and stool softeners, then pray.

I take 4 Fiber advance gummies each day, I typically go every 3-4 days. That took getting used to, because I used to go about 3-5 times a day. Maybe that's why, for me, that it's not much worse. That, or maybe since I've lost weight, I think my poop dont stink?

My family has this about once a week, or every other week. My NUT approved it, and actually suggested it. And the cool thing, it actually tastes like ...... PASTA!!!! Not wet cardboard like the other low carb Pasta options I've tried. Good stuff! If you like pasta, check out www.Emilybites.com she has a pizza baked spaghetti recipe, a 4 cheese and sausage stuffed shell pasta recipe, and the lasagna cupcakes are great for lunches! These are all staples at my house! I use the dream fields for the pizza spaghetti and hunts 4 cheese sauce.

Color Depends on what eat. I wouldn't say that droppin the kids off at the pool is worse than before, but the gas is more frequent.... And a tad worse than before.