DonRodolfo

Sorry, being moody and snappy sometimes comes with the package . Give him time for the treatment to do its thing. In the meantime, you have us here to lean on.

I had surgery Monday then Tuesday i did not pass my barium swallow so another day Nothing by mouth. Today they did a kub xray and just came to tell me out looked good and i can start my 30cc/hr! So excited.

I have planned mine out many times over the last few weeks and with surgery coming up three weeks from tomorrow and the pre-op liquid diet starting two weeks from tomorrow, I've finally decided what I am going to do.

I'm not having one. Why? Because I know that eventually (within 6 months or so!), I will be able to eat anything I want, I will just do so in moderation. (Imagine that concept!) I don't want to mourn the loss of any food, because it's not going away, I am just going to be limited in quantity. I have had more food in my 41 years than I should have consumed in a lifetime and I really see no need to mourn something that isn't dead and more importantly, has done nothing but made me unhealthy because I've allowed it to take control of me.

I want to be the one to make the decision to stop eating so much and to start being healthy, I do not want my surgeon to decide for me. For many people, once they go under, the decision is being made for them by the surgeon who is doing the cutting. Because they are no longer able to eat in mass quantity, they don't. Up until yesterday, that was going to be me. Yes, I've been doing one shake a day and high protein/low carb/under 1000cal for the last week and have lost 10.8 pounds to show for it. In the back of my mind, though, I was looking forward to having a smorgasbord of good stuff a few days before my diet started. I've looked at a million pins on Pinterest and gotten sad that I will never eat that or make that. I've been hyper-aware of all the new restaurants that are opening in my area, studying the menus, trying to figure out what I can have ONE LAST TIME. How ridiculous!

I don't want my surgeon to steal MY power, I want it to be MY decision. I decided Wednesday of last week that I would start prepping myself for the pre-op diet and yesterday I decided to stick to it right up till my surgery date. I decided to cut back on my favorite - Coke Zero - and have only one every few days. No more. I've not had one since Friday and I've lived!

Yesterday I completed all my pre-op blood work, xrays, tests, doctor visits, and signed off on all the papers. I also did all the pre-registration. The surgeon asked me if I was ready to make all the changes starting post-op that were necessary for my success and that really hit me. I told him I was not. I was ready to start right now.

I decided that I am in control of my body NOW because God knows I will not be in control of it for the weeks immediately following my procedure because at that point, I will be forced to do it.

I am the boss of me. Starting TODAY. Good Lord, I think it finally clicked and I cannot wait to start my new life. Oh, wait. I already did.

**EDIT TO ADD. I have no idea why this post is shaded or sized this way. HA! I made it bigger so it's readable.WEIRD!!!**

Wow, do I really not want to admit this. But, I did it, I had a relapse.
For a few weeks I was eating candy and ice cream on a daily basis. Somewhere in the area of 2000 calories a day worth of candy bars & ice cream. That's plus my salads and Proteins.
I'm really ashamed of myself, not because I had relapse, that's just part of life for an addict. We are really good at justifying our addictions and tripping ourselves up. My shame comes from the fact that I let my pride get I the way of my recovery. I should have come here and told my sleeve family when I realized it was a problem. I knew it was a problem less than 1 week into it, but I couldn't bring myself to admitting it to you.
About a week ago I got on the scale & had gained back 7-8lbs. I was so disappointed in myself. I am back on a very strict diet, let me assure you getting back on track is much harder when you don't have a fresh staple line to scare you into following the rules.
The total disgust I felt looking at that number on he scale was enough to put me back on the straight and narrow.
But let me tell you from experience, stay mindful of what you eat. There have always been 2 schools of thought on eating post VSG, the "what's best" & the "what's acceptable". This experience has assured me even more the I belong in the "what's best" crowd. I really need to focus on my health because "acceptable" for me quickly turns into overindulgence.
I feel I need to apologize to you, my sleeve family for not being open about this when it happened.

I was diagnosed with it last year. Irritability is one of the symptoms. I was prescribed Axiron which is applied just like underarm deodorant. That didn't work for me so my PCP has me inject myself every other week with Testosterone and that brought my number up. I have more energy now and am less agitated so easily.

You're fine - they'd probably have a few words with you if you had gained weight.

Can I tell you that I appreciate what you said here? I wish more people were this honest.

Can I be honest with you? It sounds like your not focused on the right thing. We don't really want to be celebrating how much we can eat, or getting excited to finish servings. I'm not coming down on you or anything because I was in your shoes yesterday trying to finish something and felt a strange satisfaction when I did but really, "full" is NOT the goal, the goal is comfortably unhungry.

Suckers! I gave it to her...now I have 12 million dollars!! Oh yeah! Tummy Tuck, face lift here I come!!!

Well I'm doing pretty good post op. I went walking in a nature preserve during the day. Then went to the gym and did some power walking for 25 minutes. I feel good and I'm determined to get these pounds off.

I do not currently fit in a 2013 Mustang 5.0 - but one day soon I will. And I will test drive it. And if I like it, I will own one.

Hello all of my fellow DFW Sleevers! I found a fabulous place to get healthy prepared meals that are right sized portions and nutritionally dense. It's in Plano off Park and Midway. Right next door to Pei Wei. It's called Pick A Fit foods. I thought I'd share with all who struggle in meal preparation and eating out. I loved the creamy vegetable Soup which is perfect for stage 2 of our diet.

I completely agree with Lissa here.
At my first appt, my NUT said "walk 10 minutes 3 to 5 times per week". I started out doing laps in one of my datacenters, about 10 laps for 10 minutes. It was HELL the first few weeks and I had to take 2 to 3 breaks in order to just do 10 minutes. After the first month, my body wanted to go faster and faster so I did that and increased it to 15 minutes. Today, I "wogged" (slower than jogging, closer to the speed of walking) for 20 minutes on the Treadmill without stopping once. Body parts are sore but not too bad. I would not try a Bootcamp until I got a bit below 300.
Right now, you want to be doing something DAILY but not anything too strenuous. Walking is good enough right now.

https://www1.bariatricadvantage.com/catalog/group/77102/
I plan to try them soon.

I'm starting off on a GREAT foot today, my friends.
I stepped on the scale this morning and it read 409.
Now, MOST people would see that and burst into tears. I understand that. Not me, tho.
In my journey, I don't even know what I weighed when I started. My doctor hasn't been able to weigh me in years because his scale cuts off at 400. Even my nutritionist, whose office had oversized bariatric furniture, had an older scale the cut off at 350!!
So I consider my "start weight" to be 459. But this weight was taken in November 2012, when I had already been dieting for 10 weeks. So my start weight was likely higher than that, but I don't know by how much.
So to step on the scale this morning and see that I've dropped 50lbs since November really makes me happy.
I'm on Day 3 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet.
Surgery is May 2nd.
I can't wait to start seeing and feeling my results when the weight loss is more significant.
50 lbs is wonderful, but it's just the beginning of a long journey for me.
But I'm getting there. And I'm proud of myself for all I've done so far.
This feels like a milestone... I never thought I could ever lose weight on my own, but through my own dedicated work on myself, I've lost 50. I never thought I'd see the day, and now - here it is.
I hope everyone else is also having a HAPPY SATURDAY!

I've seen a lot of protein powders that have this on the packaging as well, it's not just the brand you're mentioning. Not really sure why, either...

My first experience with GNC and Protein Shakes, they made me a sample to try!
I suggest the Amp Wheybolic Extreme 60 Cookies and Cream or chocolate. They taste amazing using only Water, even better with milk. The serving size is 3 scoops and 12 oz of Water, I cut it down to 2 scoops and 8 oz.
Optimum Nutrition strawberry banana is good, unjury chocolate Supreme is as well - both with skim or 1% milk.
I'm finding that I don't really like vanilla flavoring much in any brand.

At 300+ pounds, a bootcamp is probably too much for you. Try walking, elliptical, or treadmill for cardio (easier on the knees and back) and doing some light weights and stretching exercises to build up your muscle and endurance. If you hurt yourself doing the bootcamp, you won't be able to do any exercise until you heal. I started literally with walking up and down my hallway, along with 10 reps with 2 pound weights. Now, I do at least 30 minutes of cardio daily, plus weights 3 times a week... still low weights, high reps. I also just added in martial arts classes (tai kwan do), which incorporate lots of stretching and working with/against your own body weight. I'm down over 120+ pounds from my high weight and I can't imagine even attempting the martial arts at over 300+ pounds.

I use an app on my phone - Eat Slower. Way cheaper and it has definitely slowed me down.

Try finding a site that will sell you a sampler pack. (BJs Bariatrcs lets you select the flavors you want). I went through a lot of nectar post-op, it was a relieving change from the chocolate / vanilla routine. Did a lot of cherry, and lemon iced tea. I did NOT like the chocolate though, and wasn't terribly fond of the Cappuccino either. Also, that one does have caffeine in it, so it might by too acidic for the early days while your tummy's still healing. I know I wasn't allowed to have coffee for several weeks.
I also strongly recommend the Unjury chicken broth flavor, just for something not-sweet!

After reading a few posts here I went in a little apprehensive. Most in attendance had already had surgery except two of us. I felt very welcome and comfortable asking anything.

After reading a few posts here I went in a little apprehensive. Most in attendance had already had surgery except two of us. I felt very welcome and comfortable asking anything.

After reading a few posts here I went in a little apprehensive. Most in attendance had already had surgery except two of us. I felt very welcome and comfortable asking anything.