SerendipityHappens

I climbed mountains, did Zumba and step aerobics classes and could do an hour on the elliptical at 360 pounds. I've always been active and I've always been very fat so my body was used to it.. I think people who are thin and then gain a lot of weight have a harder time with exercise in a fat body. If you're new to exercise I suggest a "senior" aerobics class at the gym.. OR, if you want to do a regular class, Let the instructor know you're new and ask her to prompt you with how to do modified versions of certain moves that can be done safely at higher weights. Also, I LOVE the elliptical. It doesn't hurt your hips or knees and you can really get going fast and work up a sweat.. or crank up the resistance in order to build yourself a cute new butt!

DON'T know WHAT is up with multiple post!

ANOTHER multiple post..

I chose isopure and jay robb. I mixed one with coffee, one with milk and one with a sugar free drink such as Vitamin water zero or sugar free fruit punch type thing. I had the coffee shake when I got to work, the shake made with milk for lunch, then I had my lean and green dinner early in the evening, then have my last shake while watching TV at night. Also I could have some sugar free jello/sugar free popcicles as a snack. I was also allowed to choose from the following as snacks provided my overall calories were under 800: a hard boiled egg, half of a piece of fruit, half an ounce of nuts. I rarely had the calories though since my shakes alone usually totaled 450 calories leaving just 350 calories for my lean and green meal. I also sometimes substituted a cup of 1% cottage cheese for one of my shakes if I simply couldn't FACE another shake that day

You can't target where you will lose fat. You can't spot reduce.. Running won't make you lose leg fat, situps won't make you lose belly fat, etc... Building muscle can help replace VOLUME where you have lost fat.. So if your arms are only a little fat and you lose the fat and replace it with muscle, you will not have loose skin because you have replaced the volume.. BUT if you have a lot of fat, you're not going to be able to build enough muscle to replace the volume and you will likely have excess skin. For some people with time their skin will bounce back.. but for others it won't happen.. Whether or not your skin bounces back is dependent upon several factors including age, genetics, how fat you were, and how long you were fat. Personally my arms looked BETTER before I started losing weight. I just had plump arms before but they looked like normal arms.. Now I've got crazy, saggy, flappy bingo wings. There is NO WAY that my skin will EVER return to normal on its own so I'm already saving up for plastics!

I did 3 shakes plus a lean and green for 3.5 months leading up to my surgery and it was around 800 calories a day. Once I got into the swing of things I felt pretty good.. But in the early weeks, I'd have an extra shake or an extra portion of lean meat to satisfy me.. Once ketosis was in full swing, I had energy, I didn't feel hungry at all and it got much easier.

Mine were always nightmares that I was eating something I shouldn't too soon after surgery. The worst one had me sitting in my hospital bed eating fried chicken and then frantically trying to hide it in my pillow case so my doctor wouldn't find it all the while trying to think of a good cover story to explain why fried chicken was showing up on my flouroscopy.

I stalled for an entire month just two weeks after surgery. You won't lose weight every day.. or every week... or maybe not even every month.. but the weight WILL come off.

Mine started at the end of week two and lasted for FOUR WEEKS!

I do my online vitamin shopping at puritain's pride www.puritain.com I take the calcium citrate +d3 miniatures Item # 033195 and also I buy iron, fish oil and probiotic capsules from them. I get my multi from amazon.com because I like the bariatric advantage capsules and puritain does not carry those.

LOL, this reminds me of the "coffee" scene from Moscow on the Hudson, where Robin Williams has a breakdown in the grocery store because he can't handle the huge selection of coffee available.

I'm posting this in the 200 pounds forum because I know that for us, our NSV's can be very different from the run of the mill NSV's the lightweights have... so here are some NSV's from a (former)super-morbidly obese woman.... Being able to shop in ANY plus size section of any department store or chain with plus sizes (some of which carry up to 22 or 24 only) and not just the store with "extended plus sizes". *cough* Catherine's. BOOYEAH! It's awesome. But now my problem is TOO MUCH selection... I'm looking for a dress to wear to my cousin's wedding but I have too many options and can't decide! Not having EVERY SINGLE SHIRT I own have a hole/stain at the belly from where I rub up against everything. Still waiting for this one... RUINED another shirt at work yesterday :-( Being able to grab my own ankle without assistance in order to do quad stretches. It's embarrassing to have to have a stranger in your class push your leg up far enough for you to grab your ankle!.... I'm almost there but not quite.. I think my entire aerobics class is going to celebrate with me when I can stretch my own quads. Having the nasty yeasty fat lady feet problem go away. I had some sort of fungal/yeast infection thing going on on my feet for YEARS.. (ya know, that yellow chalky peeling cracking ugly old people/fatpeople feet) My right foot now looks like it belongs to a newborn baby and my left foot is ALMOST completely clear and I can wear SANDALS for the first time in a decade! Bending over to pick something off the floor without thinking about it/without dreading it. A larger lady at the store dropped a quarter the other day and I KNEW she was thinking: "is that quarter worth bending over to pick up?" UG, I remember that feeling well... I didn't even really realize what a NSV this is until being reminded what a struggle it was for me before, because now I just bend and get stuff all the time now without even thinking about it. OK so there you have it.. some of my favorite NSV's So let's hear it What NSV's made you the happiest.. or if you're just starting, what NSV's are you looking forward to?

Naked, I actually looked better before.. Granted I was 360 pounds. But my fat was distributed from head to toe and I filled out all my skin. I was never uncomfortable with the appearance of my fat body.. Now 100 or so pounds in, I'm already REALLY saggy and wrinkly and I don't love it. I'm already saving for plastics in Mexico My face looks better now. I still have a plump youthful face.. What will it look like in 100 more pounds? I don't know.. I'm hoping to keep some of the chub in the face though... and if I don't.. I'll have some work done to the face while I'm in Mexico as well!

Breakfast: 12 ounces of coffee, 3T half and half, a scoop of protein powder and 10 cherries=188 calories and 22g protein Lunch: 3/4 cup 1% cottage cheese and 1/2 cup mango cubes= 189 calories 21g protein snack: Cheesy feta stuffed tomato =137 calories 9g protein Dinner: 1.5 tacos with guacamole =391 calories 24gprotein Snack: .5 taco with guacamole = 131 calories and 8g protein Totals for the day: 1036 calories and 84g protein

I purposely purchased a multi that did not contain iron so that I didn't have to worry about this exact issue.. I take my mulit Vitamins and calcium supplements throughout the day then just before bed I take my iron.. it's SOOOOO much easier to be compliant this way

I think the answer lies somewhere between what your dietician says and what you read... 1200 for a man to maintain seems VERY low... and 2000 so soon after surgery seems very high.. I know active sleevers who DO eat 2000 calories a day... just not 9 days after surgery. I am 4 months out and on 1240 calories a day.

Although my profile says Dr Cabrerra, I was actually sleeved by Valenzuela with Cabrera assisting. I felt 100% comfortable with her. She had a very nice bedside manner and I had an excellent pain-free recovery without complication (pain free.. but of course not without some discomfort). Dr. Miguel Garcia is also on her team and he does a lot of the followups with the patients. He was very caring and even came by in the middle of the night to make sure I was getting properly hydrated after I had my IV taken out a day early (bad veins) I would recommend Dr Valenzuela any friend or family member who wanted to get Bariatric surgery.

I had very bad reflux PRIOR to being sleeved.. but when I took all wheat out of my diet during the months leading up to surgery, my reflux went away.. Since being sleeved I took one month of acid reducer right after surgery which is something he recommends for ALL patients and then a few weeks ago I felt some acid returning although very mild.. so I did a 14 day course and it's fine now. My doctor said I don't have to be on the medication all the time.. just to take a 14 day course whenever I feel the acid returning. So I'd say I have SLIGHTLY more acid reflux now than before surgery but WAY WAY WAY less than when I was eating wheat which apparently was the cause of my problem.

I'm not a veteran but the problem with the bypass isn't that the actual pouch stretches as much as it is with the connection from the pouch to the intestine.. that connection stretches out and then the intestine becomes like a large holding tank sometimes as large as the original stomach! With VSG, the connection with the stomach and intestine is not changed so it still acts as a "traffic light" keeping food in the stomach for the appropriate amount of time. Here's a great video that talks about sleeve stretching and how it compares a bit with bypass. Hope it's helpful

If it was intended only for believers then the appropriate place would have been in the section for believers. If this had been posted in the section for BELIEVERS then I would agree, non-believers would have no business intruding. The original post was chastising people for their lack of faith.. accusing them of worshipping celebrity more than God. Again, if this had been in the forum specifically for RELIGIOUS SLEEVERS, we wouldn't be having this discussion now. I'm not saying that the post shouldn't be in this section.. I'm just saying that if it's here, then it's for the WHOLE FORUM to discuss and anyone participating in the discussion should be prepared for opinions which might differ from one's own.

I'm allowed any diet beverage and that includes sodas. I was told to wait 6 weeks before trying a soda though. I was also warned that some people don't tolerate soda and if it caused discomfort that I shouldn't partake (duh) I don't have soda frequently because I don't see it as something that is healthy for everyday, but an occasional diet gingerale is yummy.

Atheist Zealots... religious zealots... vegan zealots... animal rights zealots....It's all the same, people who think that somehow because of a belief they hold that they are superior to others. For me clearing my head of religion and getting rid of all the cognitive dissonance it created was the best thing I ever did for myself. I am happier. I'm a better person. I care more about investing in myself.. damn it, I'm even pretty sure my hair has more luster. Shedding religion MADE ME A BETTER PERSON.... but it didn't make me a better than anyone else.

I don't mind if sincere people want to pray for me. It's a way for them to show they care.. I'm not fond of the Zealots who talk of their prayers/relationship with God in an attempt to make themselves feel superior. I can't exactly describe the difference between a nice sincere offer to which I say something like "awe, thanks, your support means a lot to me" or the other kind which makes me want to punch fluffy kittens... but I know it when I see it.

Pffft... there she goes again, being all rational and stuff.

an ounce of cashews.. pre-sleeve I couldn't even keep them in the house because I would OD on them but now, a measured one ounce portion of cashews FILLS me and I stay full for a long time.... sometimes I'll eat 3-4 cashews on top of a small meal in order to give myself the full factor. It's weird because many other foods that have greater volume than cashews don't fill me half as well! I've also found that I do need to eat until FULL.. not overfull.. but FULL.. If I don't, then I'm just looking for something else in half an hour. So I don't eat to the point of discomfort.. but I eat to the point that ONE MORE BITE would cause discomfort! For me if I start sneezing then I've had one bite too many and I start feeling uncomfortable... on the flip side, if I just eat to the point that I'm no longer hungry, I'm searching for something else within a half hour and I wind up eating more that way.