VickysVictory

This is still a challenge at times. but i work on making good choices. If I don't eat my Protein first, I will get hungry really soon afterwards. So i always eat my protein first and little veggies after the protein. If I do get hungry soon, I will have a Guest Protein Bar. IF i try to eat too much, it is uncomfortable.....

I'm not sure...some days are easier than others for me.

It happens. Truly it is something that you have to work on. The surgery, unfortunately is on your stomach, not your brain. So making those changes won't come just due to having a smaller stomach. You really have to work hard on the relationship that you have with food and eating. Eating quality food over quantity typically makes a big difference. I don't miss pigging out or having seconds at all. When I look back on it now, I understand why I wanted to eat more and can react more appropriately when those feeling crop up. I am not going to say it is easy, but it is controllable. Once you understand the triggers and your relationship with food, it makes managing a whole lot easier. I enjoy the food that I want to enjoy, but I eat like a "normal" person would. I eat slowly and savior every bite. I eat adventurously and creatively and look forward to trying food and food preparations that I have not done before. (I cook for a living).

I love making healthy delicious dinners...but I have to admit sometimes I get dissappointed when I can only eat such a small amt. It tastes so good I want more! I know it's best that I can't and honestly I'm so happy with the results so far...just hoping that with time I'll get used to my little meals and not long for more...

11 days post op so I may not be the best one to go by but I feel great...I just started exercising and for once I feel hopeful and confident that I really will suceed this time ...so YES

don't be so hard on yourself..but instead remember why you did your sleeve. Be honest with yourself. Are you walking each day,exercising? We know the sleeve is only a tool to get us on the road to a healthy weight and lifestyle. Respect your self ...think when you go to eat "is this worth eatting" Maybe you need to find other hobbies you enjoy that keep you busy and content. Think " am I really hungry" make sure your getting your protien and Water each day.I know you can do it...forget about these last few days ... your still 50lbs lighter and YOU CAN get to and stay at your goal! You deserve it have a great,healthy eatting, productive day...even if you take ot one day at a ti,e

don't be so hard on yourself..but instead remember why you did your sleeve. Be honest with yourself. Are you walking each day,exercising? We know the sleeve is only a tool to get us on the road to a healthy weight and lifestyle. Respect your self ...think when you go to eat "is this worth eatting" Maybe you need to find other hobbies you enjoy that keep you busy and content. Think " am I really hungry" make sure your getting your protien and Water each day.I know you can do it...forget about these last few days ... your still 50lbs lighter and YOU CAN get to and stay at your goal! You deserve it have a great,healthy eatting, productive day...even if you take ot one day at a ti,e

don't be so hard on yourself..but instead remember why you did your sleeve. Be honest with yourself. Are you walking each day,exercising? We know the sleeve is only a tool to get us on the road to a healthy weight and lifestyle. Respect your self ...think when you go to eat "is this worth eatting" Maybe you need to find other hobbies you enjoy that keep you busy and content. Think " am I really hungry" make sure your getting your protien and Water each day.I know you can do it...forget about these last few days ... your still 50lbs lighter and YOU CAN get to and stay at your goal! You deserve it have a great,healthy eatting, productive day...even if you take ot one day at a ti,e

don't be so hard on yourself..but instead remember why you did your sleeve. Be honest with yourself. Are you walking each day,exercising? We know the sleeve is only a tool to get us on the road to a healthy weight and lifestyle. Respect your self ...think when you go to eat "is this worth eatting" Maybe you need to find other hobbies you enjoy that keep you busy and content. Think " am I really hungry" make sure your getting your protien and Water each day.I know you can do it...forget about these last few days ... your still 50lbs lighter and YOU CAN get to and stay at your goal! You deserve it have a great,healthy eatting, productive day...even if you take ot one day at a ti,e

don't be so hard on yourself..but instead remember why you did your sleeve. Be honest with yourself. Are you walking each day,exercising? We know the sleeve is only a tool to get us on the road to a healthy weight and lifestyle. Respect your self ...think when you go to eat "is this worth eatting" Maybe you need to find other hobbies you enjoy that keep you busy and content. Think " am I really hungry" make sure your getting your protien and Water each day.I know you can do it...forget about these last few days ... your still 50lbs lighter and YOU CAN get to and stay at your goal! You deserve it have a great,healthy eatting, productive day...even if you take ot one day at a ti,e

don't be so hard on yourself..but instead remember why you did your sleeve. Be honest with yourself. Are you walking each day,exercising? We know the sleeve is only a tool to get us on the road to a healthy weight and lifestyle. Respect your self ...think when you go to eat "is this worth eatting" Maybe you need to find other hobbies you enjoy that keep you busy and content. Think " am I really hungry" make sure your getting your protien and Water each day.I know you can do it...forget about these last few days ... your still 50lbs lighter and YOU CAN get to and stay at your goal! You deserve it have a great,healthy eatting, productive day...even if you take ot one day at a ti,e

It's not too late to start over again but first you need to work on why you reverted to your old eating habits or you'll find yourself in a vicious cycle of lose and gain just like before your surgery. I am 4 months post-op. I pray I don't ever begin to sample my old favorites again. Right now the thought of my prior favorites make me nauseated. I pray it stays that way.

11 days post op so I may not be the best one to go by but I feel great...I just started exercising and for once I feel hopeful and confident that I really will suceed this time ...so YES

For the people who don't know me my name is Corey. I started my preop diet in October of 2012 at 475lbs. I was sleeved on 1/28/13, on that day I weighed in at 450lbs. As of today I am at 382lbs, and I can already feel a major difference in things I can do now that I couldn't before. I couldn't walk for more then ten minutes at a time before the surgery, now I go for an hour plus walk almost everyday! I think the hardest part for me so far has been reinventing my relationship with food..... food use to be my goto for everything. I got depressed, I ate. If I was bored, I ate. If I was happy or celebrating something, I ate. Now I find constructive stuff to do when or if I need to. I started drawing, and I am thinking about buying a tattoo gun and some practice skin next. Me and my son go outside and play (it's nice not being so tired all the time!) and I am looking forward to being able to goto amusement parks this summer and being able to fit on rides!! My weight loss journey is far from over, my goal weight is 200-220lbs and I know that thanks to this surgery as long as I stay committed I will make it. I also wanted to take a minute to say thank you to the people on this site as well, without the support you guys have given me during my rough times in the beginning I don't think I would be doing as well as I am now! Thank you!!

11 days post op so I may not be the best one to go by but I feel great...I just started exercising and for once I feel hopeful and confident that I really will suceed this time ...so YES

Good luck. My surgery was last Wednesday. You will do great. And don't worry my docs at Yale said there is no need for a liquid diet 2 weeks before. Losing any weight is always helpful because it makes the liver smaller. Less complications.
You will do great. Use the pain meds if needed. And walk when u can

hi kwhappyness40 I'm also on my 5th day...I haven't had any hunger so I've only had liquids and don't know about the cracker. But I wanted to wish you luck !

I just had some cream of broccoli Soup with an extra scoop of Protein Powder. Did it hit the spot? Not exactly, but it was a nice change. Last night I simmered some beef broth with pickled ginger, garlic, and a couple drops of sesame oil. It gave it a nice Asian flavor.

Oh what a relief to see these posts! I am 10days post op and I feel so good. My dr. wants 3 weeks full liquid...but the list of examples I have are so limited ( Water /diet drinks/broth/V8/suger free jello/ s/f popsicle and of course shakes to get at least 45grams of protien a day..there is no Soup , cottage cheese etc listed:( just the clear liquid things!).Well I've never been a big sweet eatter and after 9 days of strawberry/choc/vanilla shakes 2-3 x a day as my main meal I started to panic. But today I had some cream of chicken soup that I thinned with water and added a scoop of protien powder to replace a shake...I felt guilty for eatting the soup since it wasn't on my list) Now I feel so much better and I relieved. I'm going to continue having soup here and there and I'll call my dr/nut and double check this week that it's ok.

so happy I found this website ! I had my sleeve surgery on Thurs. (3/21/13) and really wanted to talk to some people who are on this journey. I am 49 but we are the same ht and start weight ...when I read your story it really hit home. I was always a big girl but healthy and active ...but then I faced realty that I had become unhealthy with assorted issues and exactly as you I just need this tool to get a large part of this weight off so I can truly be the active healthy woman I know is still in there. Good luck to you and to all of us!

This January I had a life changing moment after climbing only 2 flights of stairs at the hospital where I work, but before I explain what happened let me tell you what I do for a living and introduce myself to everyone officially. I am a female who is 5'8" and 39 years old and have been overweight since I was about 9 or 10. I am a critical care RN and I am on the rapid response team, that means that if a patient in the hospital has a major change in their condition I am called to the room to quickly assess the patient and treat the problem emergently in order to stabilize the patient while the doctor is called. It is basically like calling 911 in the hospital. So to get back to what happened, I was called to a room on the 4th floor but I was on the 2nd floor at the time so I took the stairs to save time. By the time I reached the 4th floor I was sweating, sucking air and dizzy, basically felt like I was going to pass out. As soon as I walked into the room I knew the patient was not breathing adequately on her own and she was not responding so I took over her breathing by using a bag/valve mask with oxygen to force air into her lungs while the respiratory therapist was preparing to place a breathing tube into her lungs. All of this is very demanding both physically and mentally. It was in that moment, trying to catch my own breath while giving her rescue breaths that I felt for the first time in my life that I had to make a huge change. Anyone that knows me understands that I would give my own life to help someone truly in trouble and here I was on the borderline of not being able to even help myself. To say that this really tore me up mentally is an understatement as I hope you can imagine. This was my moment of deep clarity, I saw my future and it included me as a morbidly obese patient being taken care of in a hospital because I couldn't take care of myself.
This has been such a whirlwind of an experience so far so let me describe the other events that led me to the decision to have wls. I always considered myself to be healthy and strong up until about 2 years ago when I first started having some shortness of breath with activity and pretty much staying tired all day. For the first time in my life I could see that I had started the slow decline of aging but I still did not see it as a weight related problem. Like most everyone else I have been on every diet known to man and would be somewhat "successful" but would always regain the weight within months. I would diet with the only goal being to "look" better. My highest weight was 275 pounds when I was 25 y.o. and
my lowest adult weight was 175 but that only lasted for a few months. My typical weight has hovered between 230-250 most of my adult life. I had considered bariatric surgery several years ago when I first heard about it but quickly dismissed the idea because I saw myself as healthy and the thought of long-term Vitamin deficiencies or malabsorption scared the hell out of me. I am an expert at losing weight but I can only maintain the correct eating pattern for a while before the nagging hunger gets the best of me and I fall off the wagon. Once that happens it is on like Donkey Kong, lol...I rapidly redevelop the all of my old cravings for sweets and carbs that have been with me for as long as I can remember and I lose control.
It was at the same time that I had the scary experience at work that my job announced on the intranet webpage for employees that they were implementing several different weight loss plans for everyone that wanted to participate. One was a 20 week medically supervised exercise program with a personal trainer session each week and at the bottom it listed bariatric surgery. I clicked through and read all of the options and was seriously thinking about starting the 20 week exercise program and becoming serious about eating healthy. I then clicked the link to read about the bariatric surgery thinking that I would just see what it had to say. I was immediately blown away when I read about the sleeve, it overcame all of the objections I had about wls. I could literally not read enough about it over the next week, I devoured every piece of information I could find. After that week I had made up my mind that I needed a sleeve so I could take charge of my health along with the medically supervised exercise program. So at that point I started down both paths; wls and exercise.
I attended the information session 2 weeks later on February 6th and had my first appointment with the surgeon, Dr Jawad, on February 8th. Today, March 25th, I received my official approval from my insurance to have the surgery! It only took a little over 6 weeks to go to all the doctor appts, get all the testing completed, submit everything to insurance and gain approval. The even more amazing part to me was that Health Choice approved my case in only 1 day!!!! The insurance approval was so fast that I am still waiting to hear the results of the manometry test to make sure that my stomach/esophagus does not have any pressure or motility issues that would make me a poor long-term candidate for the sleeve. So, of course, that is the only thing I can think of today, lol, I am so excited that I can't stand it! I am waiting on those results so I can be placed on the surgery schedule!!!! I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve.
Today is my 5th week on the exercise program. I have worked myself up to walking 4 miles, 3 times a week and doing yoga 30 minutes a day. I am able to do a mile in about 20 minutes and I have worked myself up to walking 4 flights of stairs before I am totally out of breath. My endurance is slowly improving but the important thing is that it is improving! I am so proud of myself for this new habit I am developing:)
Thanks for listening and I am so excited to be a part of this message board, I have learned so much over the last month from all of you. I really appreciate everyone that contributes to these great discussions!