TooFluffy

What you all said. LOL
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I just played my DH in a game of basketball. Usually I stand there and throw the ball at the basket and then quit. Not this Time I actually out ran him for the ball after he missed a shot and beat him to the ball. And played a whole game Wow.
Thats what 60lbs lost have done for me. Yay. My Blood pressure went from 170/100 to 109/72 or better.
Oh, At 4.5 months out i too can now do everything on your list except buy any Bracelet out the case. Lol
Caint wait for more Skinny sex!
Get to Goal.

I hope this doesn't come across as frivolous, but I can't help but think about some of these things.
In addition to getting healthy, I can't wait to:
have my husband's arms reach all the way around me
play on the floor with the grandkids
cross my legs
climb stairs without huffing and puffing
tie my shoes without cutting off my own oxygen
sit in a regular lawn chair
shop for clothes in the misses dept.
sit in a booth
dance without worrying what I look like
buy any Bracelet in the case
buy something other than perfume at Victoria's Secret
plus many, many more!
What are some everyday activities you look forward to?

ashelaine, congrats on the wedding, and especially for being able to do a swing dance, and being lifted by your hubby and friend. Awesome!

birdmadgirl, love the last one, haha!
Tink, thank you so much for the encouragement!

I hope this doesn't come across as frivolous, but I can't help but think about some of these things.
In addition to getting healthy, I can't wait to:
have my husband's arms reach all the way around me
play on the floor with the grandkids
cross my legs
climb stairs without huffing and puffing
tie my shoes without cutting off my own oxygen
sit in a regular lawn chair
shop for clothes in the misses dept.
sit in a booth
dance without worrying what I look like
buy any Bracelet in the case
buy something other than perfume at Victoria's Secret
plus many, many more!
What are some everyday activities you look forward to?

i can't wait to be able to just go places and walk again
the county fair
michigan's adventure
dow gardens
the fireworks
i haven't went to any of these places in years because i could barely walk
oh and i want to wear high heels again
and sit in booths
and dance
and ride a bike
and oh definitely have better sex (i got divorced in january so i'm looking for a better partner too, lol)

Oh...and I forgot to add, I just made hotel reservations in Mackinac City, MI so that I can walk across the Mackinac Bridge (5 miles long) on Labor Day!

Just bought a new bicycle and have been hiking. Have also done 2 5k's so far this summer (I'm a walker due to back surgery) and have 2 more scheduled, as well as a bike hike. Also, just took some friends to a local tourist area and out-walked everyone in the group for the day! Best of all...I am at a loss about buying clothes. I don't know how to buy clothes not at a plus-sized store. I am really eager to practice, practice, practice though!

My thoughts going into this were that I'd rather deal with complications from this surgery rather than a heart surgery 10 years from now.

I'm 63 YO, started at 423#. ALL went well with surgery and recovery. I'm as happy as a pig in mud.

Toofluffy, let me encourage you! At 6 months post op I can do all the stuff on your list (except for the bracelets). And after the initital post op period (and learning the diet)--which is not easy to do-- it has made sense to me. I get it. And now i am 40 lbs from goal. and my weight loss has been slow. but the inches are falling off.

going to social acitivites and not being self conscious
painting my tonails without cutting off my circulation lol
running the softball bases without almost dying
wearing smaller bras
wearing shorts and tank tops
cleaning my house
walking the dogs
crossing my legs
BETTER SEX!!!!!

Maybe you get gold staples instead of titanium.

I have been in you shoes.
My highest starting weight was 255. I am 5feet 7, so that put me around a 40BMI. On the 9 month pre-op plan I lost 55lbs. My family REALLY tried to discourage me from surgery saying that my weight loss was evidence I could do it myself.
The thing is, I have lost weight before, many, many, many times. I have said b4 that I was a great dieter, sucky maintainer, and super regainer (plus more). I knew I had to do something different this time, or I would just end up repeating my old patterns. (Remember that saying about Insanity: doing the same thing over & over and expecting a different outcome).
Upon much reflection / prayer/ counseling, I decided to think of the pre-op weight loss as part of my recovery & beginning of a new life. I had surgery at 198, at a 33 BMI. Many (family included) would call me a crazy person for having WLS at that BMI. But, I know myself and know my history. I have since come to terms with the fact that WLS was simply a last chance scenario for me.
My point is only you know you. I'm certain in time you will make the best choice for you.

Hello,
I'm WeeWers and I'm 60 and need to lose 165 pounds. My age and the *amount* of weight I have to lose -- well, I'm hoping to find a buddy in similar shoes.
Anyone out there??
Blessings,
WeeWers

I ran across a wonderful product while on Amazon.com. Because it takes awhile to eat meals, I ordered this hot plate (after reading the reviews). It is a wonderful product. Just two minutes in the microwave and it keeps your plate hot while you eat! I love it, especially for eggs!
http://www.amazon.com/Orka-A04100-Magma-Plate-Black/dp/B003K05OBM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367248423&sr=8-1&keywords=orka+magma

That's cool. Stop sucking down half of pizzas tho.

Three Years Later - What I've Learned
Here's my experiences from the sleeve process years ago. I wish I had this information before getting the sleeve, so I wanted to share it with all of you:
GAINING WEIGHT
Gaining weight is easy: you simply eat when you're emotional, lonely, or not hungry. Even though my stomach would barely fit a slice of pizza, I could still suck down an entire large meat Lover's Supreme by eating a single slice, waiting until my stomach could fit some more and then eating another. Until the pizza was all gone. You can also do this with ice cream, burgers, fries, and all the other miscellaneous crap food widely available via drive thrus.
This is why you're required to see a counselor and nutritionist - to handle your eating issues. If these aren't handled, then DON'T BOTHER WITH THE SURGERY. You will simply get fat again by eating smaller portions more frequently. If however you only eat when you're hungry - and stick to good foods then you're golden. Now OBVIOUSLY if you did that in the first place you wouldn't be fat. So surgery is a booster shot to your weight loss, and new way of life.
Think of it as waging a war, and surgery is a tank. Now a tank is a formidable weapon. Can run over enemies, shoot some big artillery but eventually if all you have is that one tank, you'll probably lose a prolonged battle. So you gather some strategy and military air support (diet changes), some recruits and soldiers (lifestyle changes) and NOW you have a master battle plan for your war. And ultimately a better thought out path to success.
You invested a lot of money and pain into this - don't screw it up.
FIRST FEW MONTHS
The first six months your weight will drop amazingly fast, because you're out of surgery and can only eat Soup broth for a week. And then slowly mushy foods come in, followed by a few solids. You don't really need a blender, there are ample canned goods you can eat. Baby food, blending a steak and other shocking posts you read about aren't required: just shop for other things that qualify. Going out with friends during this period is depressing, since your diet is so restrictive, you're staring blankly at the menu for a long time and finally decide on Water.< /p>
Get everything you need together before coming home. You'll be on some pretty loopy meds when arriving home, and won't be in any shape to hit the local Walmart. Nor will your family want to bother with it - so plan ahead.
FOOD AND STRETCHING
You can only eat maybe a half cup of food during the first couple months. Then a cup after about five months, then two cups after longer. You can hurry this process along by stuffing your face until your stomach hurts so bad you need to go lay down, or vomit. But if your eating problem is that severe then see my multi-faceted approach to surgery from above.
Each person is obviously different, but stretching your stomach (to me at least) seems difficult and a venture of pain and suffering. I can feel my stomach naturally taking in more food over time, however I've cycled that back down by going a few days drinking only delicious fruit smoothies. This makes my tummy literally shrink back to where it was after surgery, or pretty close, dependent upon how many days I go. You can also accomplish this via more extreme methods like water or veggie juice fasting, however banana/stawberry/pineapple with some coconut water and ice in the blender tastes much better in my humble opinion.
If you do continue to gorge like a tick on bad foods, then yes your stomach will stretch. I've met a few people who's stomach has returned to normal size. Again - everybody is different, I'm just telling you MY story.
How much food you can eat varies by food type:
RICE - I can eat maybe five spoonfuls of this before I feel sick. Stuffing in another three before my body registers that I'm full and it's a vomit party. You need to eat slowly - there's a point in which eating more means bending over the toilet. And once you've experienced that joy, you quickly learn where the limit resides. Rice expands so you gotta be careful. An average meal of fried rice and an egg roll is a full day's worth of food, that requires splitting up.
SODAS - Equivalent to drinking battery acid. I've met some people who've acclimated back to it, but why bother?
MEAT - Steak is bad, try like five or six bites before calling it quits. chicken is similar. Fish goes down a little easier, and you can eat more, maybe because it's flaky.
SALADS and FRUIT - I can eat one banana. Two is painful. Ditto with grapes, strawberries, etc. These foods process through your stomach quicker, so you can eat a little more often compared to stuffing down a sirlion.
PIZZA - Takes me about 12 hours to suck down a large thin crust. Regular or deep crust, I end up tossing half of it into the trash.
Desserts - They hurt. Bad. And then make me sleepy, ticked off and depressed. I mostly stick with natural sugars now like fruits and veggies.
RESTAURANT EATING
Eating out with friends has a lot of rules tagging along. You must wait 30 minutes after drinking water before eating (which works out great, since that's how long food takes to arrive). I order an appetizer or split a full meal with a friend, so this is not a big deal. I see and hear lots of drama about this mingling around, but it's not THAT bad, and you can easily make it look perfectly normal without telling people you had surgery. You don't need a little happy note from your doctor saying you had surgery, just get a doggie bag or go halfsies with a buddy.
CONCLUSION
These are just my two cents, and I hope they help someone.
I lost about 100lbs, then gained back 50.
I'm in the process of losing again thanks to a diet change (I went 100% raw food) and exercise.

"congress with a kid"?????????????
Well, these bowls are no good for that but if you want something that "comes with a lid and is good for travel".....
I have the Gladware 1/2 cup plastic containers. They have lids and are microwavable. I think it was an 8 pack for $2.50 at Walmart.< /p>

I read it all, and am sending BIG hugs your way.

I read it all, and am sending BIG hugs your way.

Your blog entry is spot on! Thanks for sharing.

jenlen, good for you, reporting that nurse. Hopefully, her supervisor addressed it in such a way that she will never make such a comment again. IMO, she needs transferred to a different floor, or out the door!

I'm not a doctor. If that happened to me, I would see a dermatologist posthaste.