hewalkswithme

I have tired weight watchers lil cream cakes it's only 90 cals and its so good such a treat and also low fat graham crackers, and Kellogg pastry treats 100 cals.. and frozen yogurt.

Just dropping in to say hi:
I am 2 year and 4 months out. Have been at goal for 1 year and 9 months. Life is so great on this side. The weight has been off almost two years!
At this point I still have zero problem maintian my wieght, I am still not hungry ever!!!
Some things that have changed.
I have found that food just doesn't hold interest for me much anymore. I can take it if leave it. A protien bar is as good as having sushi. I just dont care really. This is a good thing!!!! It took a while to get used to that. For a while it was a little sad ro me. But that passed also. Simple fact. "Nothing tastes as good as thin!" And a time does come where you really aren't controlled by food anymore. What a blessed time that is! Stay focused on your goals and all the new life you will have. It is worth far more than any food you will not eat.
The kids climbing into your lap in a reatraunt booth, riding all the roller coasters at six flaggs with them, kayaking with your sweet heart, running a race, wearing that sexy outfit on a dinner date, buying clothing at any store!!!!! Catching a stranger checking you out, and it isnt because they are afraid you might sit on them, all priceless. Best of all, extending your life!
Go suck the marrow outta life friends! Thats something we can eat our fill of :-)

I'm one month shy of 2 years post surgery. I want to say it "HIT" me just last month. I looked in the mirror and had that "OMG I'm thin" moment. It was beautiful. I will say, most days, I still feel like the fat person in the room. But someone will comment with "hey skinny" as i walk the halls..and i giggle knowing I AM!! I am healthy and happy and loving my life.
And Pasquini, I'm with you as far as the food goes. To me, it just doesnt matter. When asked where I want to eat or what I'm craving.. I just give a blank stare. I don't crave, I don't want. food is what I need to fuel my body, not what I need to make me feel better. Honestly, food is always the furthest thing from my mind. I just nibble now and then because my wittle tummy wants nutrition. I never in my entire life thought I'd feel that way.. NEVER. I'd be eating meal 1 thinking of meal 3. YIKES.
Anyway, congrats to both of you! it's truly a proud moment..Life will never be the same...and for that I am grateful.

Hi all, I was sleeved may 13 starting weight 219 so far I lost a total of 44lbs yay for me.... I don't eat bread, Pasta, rice, I eat a lot of baked fish with veggies, I work out about 4 times a week, life is golden!

Hi all I'm 3weeks and 3 days out I'm 198lbs and counting.. starting weight was 219 that's a total of 21 lbs gone forever! yay I love my new sleeve... congrats to everyone!

Hi all I was not able to eat yogurt until a month later? I guess everyone is different but I was told it should only take you 20 -30 minutes to eat one meal then you should walk away from it.. or wait until lunch.. that's what I was told good luck!

I was just eating some, when u first start be careful of the fibers that's in watermelon may be hard to swallow, but otherwise a lil square will be enough for you... good luck!

These are my opinions mind you and my experiences so everyone is different remember that.
I studied all options and came to these brief conclusions.
lap band? No i did not want a foreign object inside my body. Also you have to go in every once in awhile to have it tightened. Just on that alone I was speaking with someone and he said "oh i love it cause I don't go in around the holidays so I can eat a lot" Really? His appearance was still quite large and gee after 3 years post op is when I saw him. This is a decision for life not convenience so I said no to this cause I can cheat on that diet. Why do it in first place knowing I can cheat.
Bypass? Hell no, to many horror stories. I was born with all these intestines for a reason..they serve a purpose and for all you out there say well I had my tonsils removed and it hasn't affected me. My answer to you is you HAD to have them removed due to medical reasons and in my opinion and only my opinion being obese is a medical position you put yourself into and only you. I've just heard to much negativity about this surgery so it wasn't for me.
That rouy en ex surgery Look it if i can't spell nor pronounce it I'm not doing it period.
Leads me to sleeve. Not because others weren't my choice its just what I was comfortable with.
1- when this is performed the remaining cut away portion of your huge belly is removed from your body not left inside to float around attached to nothing. Had ulcers? good luck in treating them since your stomach that floats has no way of accepting medicine ..enough said
2- The surgery that removes the stomach also removes that nasty little gurgling sound screaming feed me feed me. What I mean by that here I am 3 years later NEVER getting hungry but just knowing I have to eat to survive. I no longer live for food but need food to live so I'm careful on quality and health benefits of what I eat since its all Portion Control.< /p>
3- The surgery is permanent if not abused. You made the decision to do this why abuse it? Meaning lets say you have a 6 ounce pouch as a new stomach and everyday you eat that one bite too much. It has the possibility of stretching out slowly but surely over time. Once eating you feel full stop right there and don't ever have that same after thanks giving day meal feeling of holy ^&%$ I'm full and tired and think I only had 7 ounces this sucks . Bad attitude.
Also If you are worried about not being able to drink my 2 all time favorites soda and beer again then you may want to reconsider choice. Don't get me wrong live your life like you want to but keep in mind carbonation is something that bloats your stomach and after time who knows how much it gets bigger coupled with the eating one too many bites. Me every Friday and Saturday I sit and enjoy some wine which I hated preop and now get my weekly buzz from it and hell it tastes pretty good.
4 Less invasive,less side effects and bottom line is I lost 180 pounds so if anyone says I'm biased towards this well I am wouldn't you be? duh! lol
My story
I'm 46 now and had surgery almost 3 years ago. Prior to that most of my life I was the fat guy and twice in my younger years lost over 100 pounds thru dieting. If you are on this site my guess you have done the same, only to gain it all and then some back. Pre surgery I weighted 400 pounds with a 54 inch waist and a 5 xl shirt and was the fat and dorky also known as big and talls stores best customer. I used to have kids pointing and making fun of me. Damn those bastards haha. I couldn't fit in an airplane seat a dining booth and amongst all the other stories which you all have this is why I did the surgery
I did all the prep requirements needed starting in June and decided "am I serious about this" so I decided to give up my 12 can a day of soda to prove I can do this and be successful at post surgery. Well I haven't had a soda since July 22 2010. Hence why I have done so well 3 years later. Because I KNEW i could do it.
After the surgery I was sore, tired, cranky, thought why did I do this what an idiot. I felt miserable I mean after all, flavored shakes for 2 months, wonderful. Oh don't do what I did and buy one huge same flavored shake and go with it for 6 weeks. Hint..I can't stand the smell of a banana to this day. It gets better as the days pass you start getting strength and gaining confidence. My first meal other than milkshakes was a can of chicken broth and to this day that can has been my all time favorite meal and will never be topped because after 37367363 banana drinks dog crap sounded good.
I remember my blood work before surgery and when the doctor uses those numbers (need to be between these in order to be good) Lol I was so bad I was a diabetic, depressed,cholesterol filled how the hell am I still living. If those results were an actual test I had to do on paper then it may have well been printed in Chinese cause I failed miserably.
Bottom line do I still have some diarrhea to this day. Of course I'm drinking tons of Water and limiting food intake... go figure...does it bother me NO Ladies you sit to pee anyway so big deal. Guys the ladies want you to sit and pee and will be grateful. Yes of course I do not have it all the time it depends how many meals I had that day compared to liquid intake. etc. BTW my one side effect was dehydration and it was bad to the point of me passing out numerous times. Simple solution drink water every minute you can. I don't go anywhere without 2 bottles and Oh I love crystal light iced tea as well.
It honestly took me a good 4 months to feel I had made a good surgical decision after the pain and all the newness that I was experiencing. I will say when I had a weight tracker on my bathroom wall and was listing weekly weight and watching it drop so rapidly all the bad memories went out the window it was such a great feeling.
I liken this surgery to running a marathon. You stand at the starting line and say holy cow I'll never finish this thing I have started and suddenly your Bariatric doctor pulls up beeps horn and say get in. He drives you to the 23 mile post and lets you out and says now finish the last 3 miles with my help. He/she gave you the head start needed to lose all that damn weight you carried for so long.
I'm going to skip a bunch of months till now and tell you what I have done and have continued to do.
You saw my stats above and today as I am typing this I weigh 218 when my goal was 225. My original goal was 235 but nope this is too easy lets keep going. BTW some schmuck doctor will say (in my dumb ass cynical voice) " well you should weigh 189" my answer, kiss my %$# I wear a 36 waist and a Large shirt and I literally am a blood specimen and have none of the above mentioned issues I had earlier. Then i proceed to tell my 5'6 doctor and his string bean pole that I have a monstrous frame with huge shoulders and if I weighed 187 I'd look like gumby and peeps would throw food at me and they always see my side on my opinion of the perfect weight haha
When I was able to eat regular food again I ate 4 portions per day NONE after 5pm and when I got to desired weight I moved to 5 portions only to discover I was still losing. Now depending on what I eat I consume 6 or 7 meals to "maintain". If I start to gain weight I drop one meal.
I have posted a few threads on here and will and can answer questions if need be but I not online a ton. I wrote these because with all the peoples information I read on here pre op it helped me. What I tried to do with this post was to sum up all the information I learned from different sources into one long letter.
Now lose that weight and give that fat person in the mirror the finger and SAY NO MORE, BYE BYE SADNESS, HELLO NEW LIFE. Wont believe all the things I can do now and would never try then I hope you use my email as an inspiration and someday down the road do what I did and help the people make a decision that they are struggling thru as you are now or will be soon.

Mio or Crystal light liquid- one of them has Splenda I believe. Hot or cold tea also counts for Water. Try varying the temperature of your beverage as well. I can drink more when beverages are room temp vs. iced. Try milk, cow's milk will count towards your Fluid goal and give a little Protein. If you don't like that, soy and almond milks are an ok option as they are mostly water.

I love Diet Green Tea Snapple (they have it in those powder packets). I can't stand Water alone anymore for some reason. Also Crystal Light has a pomegrante flavor (pomegrante cherry maybe) that doesn't taste "diet" at all.
One thing about the artifical sweeteners I always hated them and was dreading that part of this process but now I am eight months out and when I have something with "real" sugar now it is way too sweet. The sugar substitutes taste normal to me. The other day I had a Dove chocolate ice cream bar and thought I would go into a diabetic shock it was so sweet. LOL So perhaps if you give it a try you may be able to tolerate the sugar substitutes a bit more as you go along.

hewalkswithme hi there
concentrate on today
we can't change the past - its over and done with
we can/must work hard on the present - doing our weight "thing" and all other good "stuff"
it's too early to worry about what "might" happen in the future
the future is "out there" - but don't dwell on gaining the weight back til you lose it first
worrying a "bit" can be helpful, in the fact that you stay diligent to your eating, drinking (works for me)
AFTER most/many people reach goal (me, me) there is the concern/fear about gaining weight back
the ONLY way this can ever happen - is we forget/ignore all we've learned through out this process
but i know you have a good memory
I'm lucky for the fact that i do like Water - and am able to drink my 64 oz
can't really add to OP's good suggestions on what to drink
but...........i will say you need to drink more - some how!!!!
i get that it is hard for you
but you must come to some sort of "agreement" with yourself about a drink - or FORCE yourself to drink H20
i know this is easier said than done
but we all or should know that Water is essential to our life
truth is, all "normal" people should drink lots and lots of water
hope you can solve your situation about the water, liquids
congrats on losing 30 lbs
good luck with your continued weight loss
kathy

don't like hummus so I will try light mayo.. but it sounds good.. thanks for sharing!

I make wraps for lunch all the time... I think you could do better making it yourself! Here's my go-to wrap:
Kretschmar low sodum turkey - 2oz = 60 cal, 13g Protein
Sabra Tuscan Herb hummus - 1/2 tbsp = 35 cal, 1g Protein (2.5 carbs)
Flatout Flat bread Light - Italian Seasoned - 1/2 slice = 45 cal, 4.5g protein (8 carbs)
and then I pile on spinach, which adds maybe 2 calories.
Total: 142 calories, 18.5g protein, 10.5 carbs. And the spinach takes a while for me to digest, so it keeps me full for a long while!
I'm all for convenience, so this isn't a bad choice, but I definitely prefer to make things myself to save on sodium.

Yes this is very normal that's your stomach having spams, it will soon go away, I took my pain meds for a week by day 4 I was weaning myself off, congrats to all on your new journey..

I don't understand why some think this is "the easy way". Jenny Craig is easy! Weight Watchers is easy! Having most of your stomach removed is not easy. It is an absolute last resort to be healthy and live a long life. And 7 months out I regularly get the slimes after just one mouthful and diarrhea probably 2 - 3 times a week. I have painful reflux and dizziness from low blood pressure.
I like the way I look now and the compliments I get. I love the clothes and shoes I can wear and the fact that I can play on a playground with my grandchildren. I actually can slide down a slide without my arse getting stuck. I can easily do up my seatbelt on an airplane and don't have to suffer the stares of others when I eat out. I have re-introduced myself to my toes and my sex life has improved dramatically.
But easy it is not. My body is now something I have to plan for and manage. But I am planning and managing........just.
Easy? NO NO NO!

Job well done!

All MX drs do a leak test during surgery and another 24 hrs later. This is a precaution they firmly believe in. The taste is nasty, but it only takes a few seconds and it's over. It's a icky tasty tasting precaution I'm thankful for.

Awww, im so sorry you had to go through that, but on a positive note I happy your doing better my surgery is approaching fast cant wait to be on the loser bench..

Hey, fellow sleevers. I've been on MFP since my surgery, but now that I'm tracking actual foods instead of just a daily liquid intake, I think I would enjoy having some friends on there. Does anyone else here use it?

Thanks for that, Im trying to keep my mind on the positive, im having mine at little company Mary hospital... Dr Cahill.. good luck on may 2 you will do fine..

hi, all Im schedule for april 8th im telling you this is hard all I can do is think of food im doing my pre op diet now..geesh...lol

I was soooo ready for it! That's all I can suggest. I worried I'd never be happy without food. My world was full of food to where I had to completely reprogram my brain and rearrange my daily life. Enough was enough for me. By the time I was close to my pre-op diet I hated food so much I started my diet a few days early. From that time on I was done being fat.
You have to have a mind set that works with your new tool. There's no other au to do it. Think of your doc as the coach and he's taking you off the bench to play in the world of happy healthy weight. Get your mind in the game and play it right