Momonanomo

I have a childhood friend who does this for a living now, from what I understand. She is a nurse, and she works for an insurance company, and she calls surgical patients. We don't talk that often, but when i spoke with her last she was using the example of someone getting knee replacement surgery, and she calls them just to make sure they understand the surgery and that they know of all the alternatives to surgery. And she said that people often think she has called specifically to talk them out of surgery, but that's not the case. I think it's the insurance company's way of trying to make sure the patient is completely informed. Seems like their effort is easily misread though, so I'm thinking the insurance company would want to come up with a better/different approach.

But ANYways! Yes, stand firm in your decision, and just consider it yet another hoop to jump through for insurance to cover your surgery.

Beware of sugar free candies - they can be loaded with sugar alcohols that can wreak havoc with your system. If there is any ingredient with "itol" at the end (malitol, sorbitol, xylitol, etc) - look out - that's a sugar alcohol.

For an amusing view of what problems sugar alcohols can cause, read this http://www.amazon.com/Haribo-Gummy-Candy-Sugarless-5-Pound/product-reviews/B000EVQWKC

The Amazon reviews made me cry with laughter. O. M. G.

Hilarious!!!

Outstanding!

Great job!

Way to go!

I'm so happy for you!

"'fast-burning carbohydrates—just like cocaine—give you a rush. As with blow, this rush can lead to cravings in your brain and intrusive thoughts when you go too long without a fix. "

I completely and totally, whole-heartedly believe this. To this day, when I smell bread (and believe me, i can smell it within a 3 mile radius), I think my eyes immediately dilate.

Great article Arts, thanks for posting!

I relate. I'm almost 7 months post surgery, and I still find myself planning a binge when I know my husband is going to be away. So far I havent actually done it, but the thought process is there and that obsession is part of the behavior. ANYways, last night I realized that addiction is secretive. We keep it a secret so we can keep doing it. So last night I told my husband how I used to buy junk every time I drove ANYwhere alone and ate it in the car, how every time I went to any store I got candy, how when he was away I would plan and execute a pig-out, and how I would hide the wrappers etc. He said he had found wrappers on occassion and had wondered....but he was glad I was sharing, because it shows I really want these changes.

It was such a relief to admit it to him, and it was very liberating. For -if only just in that moment- i was able to feel more powerful than the food addiction. I expect this will be a life long struggle. But it felt good to admit it to him.

Im 5'9". Goal weight is 150, ultimate goao weight is 145. This isnt set in stone. As I get closer i will reevaluate.

Great thread! This year I am happy to say that my focus will be on the time I get to spend with my mom preparing the feast rather than the feast itself. I love my mom :]

Lots of Water that day. The food should be easy because turkey is a lean meat. So, a few bites of turkey, a bite of green Beans, a half bite of dressing, maybe a bite of a roll. I comsider those my favorite things. The rest --- well lets just say I will not regret not eating it

I fully expect this to be the best Thanksgiving ever for me! I am so very thankful to have my sleeve for a holiday that is all about eating!

I find that looking at it in percentage lost rather than lbs lost helps when i am trying to project where i will be in the future. I average a 1.3% loss per week, which equaled more lbs when i was 289 vs where i am now at 202. That being said, i do find that my average % is going down the further out i get. I dont give a flip, so long as i am not gaining weight! I work in accounting so the number analysis is interesting to me, but I dont live or die by it. The thing that blows my mind is thinking that it is within my power to get to goal and be a healthy weight and stay there! Dont care how long it takes, so long as I keep myself from going back to where I started

Woo HOO! As of today I am joining you in the overweight club!!! thanks for blazing the trail!

I raise my glass (of Water lol) to you!

Yes just because she is new to your center doesnt mean you have to put up with that. The Number One most important thing here is your success. The center should know she is not helpful--their interest is in your success, and it shouldnt be success "in spite of" the NUT. See if they have another one on their team you can switch to.

Hang in there & good luck!

You. Are. Absolutely. Amazing!

You have worked so hard, and it has definitely paid off!

My favorite line of your whole post is "The sleeve did not fix the cavernous space between my ears. " That's very wise, and this is great advice. We are the key to the success of our sleeves. Thank you for posting, and thank you for being such a great success story.

Best of luck on your upcoming body lift! Healing will likely be a breeze now that you're so healthy!

Yup i wasnt interested in anything but Clear Liquids the first week, and even then it was a challenge to have a sip. My mom made abig thing of Jello that i was so not interested in!

Congratson getting it done!

First week for me was a bit like having the flu. I was in hospital less than 24 hours. When I left, for the next 6 days, there was lots of sleeping, a little nausea, no pain but just worn out. I didn't have access to a scale the first week and I just wasnt in the mood to care at that point. I did venture out on a couple of shopping adventures starting day 4, and I was amazed to think I could do that after having the majority of a major organ removed! It was easy, not painful, but i just felt tired very easily.

My advice would be not to worry about the scale for now. Job #1 is staying hydrated and job #2 will be to get your Protein target as soon as you are up to it. But the hydration is key to beginning to feel better. Be kind to yourself and dont overdo.

Best of luck! You are on your way!

LOL! My anesthesiologist was adorable, and I was so SCARED that when he started the drugs in my IV I was gonna say something totaloy inapropriate

I believe it's been wacky hormones for me.

About a month or so ago I was SO ANGRY at work that I made someone cry when she turned in some things late. There is no question that she turned them in late and that it caused problems for me, but I am usually soooo much more tolerant. At the time I felt entirely justified reprimanding her, and actually even now I could say it was justified. It's just not my usual style, so to speak. I have since apologized, and she has too.

It's funny how when you're in the midst of a meltdown, your actions & reactions seem entirely justified. And it doesn't necessarily occur to us at that time that it *might* be hormones that are making us freak out.

Hormones are sooooo sneaky!

I think I am now back to my old chill self. I think I am anyways. Reality is in the eye of the beholder, right?!? Anyways, having ruminated on the whole thing a bit, my take on it is this: I need to be super aware that I have been short tempered lately, likely due to the weight loss and/or low calories and/or hormonal changes. I need to take a moment if I find myself getting angry to really evaluate these feelings. I need to look at the situation as objectively as possible and try to act accordingly and in a rational way. I need to have my antennae up to the possibility that I am maaaaayyybeeeee currently predisposed to over reacting....

I'll jump in and mention 6pm.com

It's all designer, name brand stuff at BIG mark downs, free shipping and free returns. They have a big variety of sizes too!

My island doesn't have much to chose from, so I'm big into online shopping

that's awesome gg! Congratulations on your overweight-ness!

lol I have that marked on my list of milestones too My most recent milestone that I passed passed was to weigh what I did when I met my prince charming. His mind is blown to think that I am still 55+ lbs from goal. My ever-changing bod is like him sleeping with a series of different women all the time! lol

I am 2 lbs away from being overweight. Yay! Unfortunately, the weightloss is slooooowing way the hell down lately. No worries though. I will get there!

In -5 lbs, I will be in onederland and at 90lbs lost. In -15 lbs, I will be down 100. After that, the next mini goal is to weigh what it says on my drivers license. lol!

Time flies...that means we must be having fun!

Congrats - your hard work has truly paid off. Thanks for being here to inspire & entertain us!

Me too, me too. I am uncomfortable with the compliments, i just want to be me and not a topic of conversation.

That being said OMG that person with the camera did indeed cross the line big time! Good grief! Good for you for reporting it, and shame on the supervisor for even somewhat defending their actions. IMO, people's bodies just really shouldnt be a topic of conversation in the workplace EVER. Looking good or looking bad, looking thin or looking heavy, it is just completely inappropriate. Do not touch my body and do not use it as a topic of conversation.

This is a serious matter that your supervisor should take very seriously.

That being said, please dont let it get in the way of your progress. I completely understand what you are saying about wanting to lay off the hard work because you dont want to draw more attention to yourself, but you would only be hurting yourself.

Just try to remember that in a year or so the novelty of your new body will have worn off for these weirdos at work and they will move on. You will get to enjoy your healthy body for life!

Good luck and keep us posted k!

and omg hooker name would be Sugar Gap.

:/ that is dreadful

"momona" in Hawaiian means fat or ripe. In pidgin it definitely just means fat!

I used that and then tacked on the "no mo" to stand for "no more".

So momonanomo = fat no more.

And I am working hard on getting there!

Looking GOOD girl! You are the total package

Stop now if you can. Better to get it out of your system as much as possible, and gum is a no-no during post op. I stepped down from nicotine gum to the mini lozenges, then switched to sugarfree altoid mini's.

Best of luck to you!

Im at 6 months out, down 83 lbs, and havent lost any hair.

I think I may be in the clear at this point....

Will come back & vote when I am at 8 mos

I completely agree with this being a dangerous practice when used as a means to try to satisfy cravings. It's just too much like bulimia. I'm on this journey to get over my food addiction, not to trade it in for a different ED.

There have been times, when eating a meal, that I take one last bite --- the one that, as I chew carefully, I realize will be One Bite Too Much. I end up spitting it discretely into a napkin. It happens less and less as I learn my fullness signals. And I am certainly motivated to work toward NOT having to do this. But when I need to , I do it to avoid the extreme discomfort of One Bit Too Much. So I am doing it -- on occasion -- for that purpose only.

I'm hoping you guys would agree that this is a different than sucking on a dorito & spitting it out so that it "won't count".

(disclaimer: dorito has been used as a random example, and if someone somewhere on the boards actually did this with a dorito and posted about it, I am not intentionally singling anyone out!)