Gardengirl

Thanks for sending my help request on!!!

Hi there! Anyone care to pass this on to Alex or Susan or someone??? I joined as "gardengirl" over the summer. Loved VST. Got locked out after the merger. Re registered as "gardengirl2". Got locked out again. Re registered third time as "gardengirl14 or 16". Can't remember. Anyway, I just want my old account back. Every time I write to the tech people it kicks me out. Can I get someone to help? Or just take this as a hint...? And finally: my daughter who has read and loved Hunger Games, Divergent books, and Fault in our Stars found a new mini series she is crazy for that starts with a book called "The Selection". And for all of us, kids and grown ups alike, read "Wonder". Simply amazing. Happy Thanksgiving all".

I can't find my pm to Susan. Can't find a place to get help. Probably going to stop

Coming to this forum. I can't access my previous conversations with friends I've made which is sad.

Susan, not sure if my pm made it to you. My original user name is gardengirl. Thanks!!!

I love how there's a chew bone right next to your shoe. Darn dogs...

Very frustrating.

Someone recently said "congratulations" to me about my weight loss and then said "and congratulations to your hubby too". I said "what's he got to do with it?" I'm getting thinner for ME.

No problems here either. I followed the rules pretty closely and everything has been going great. 7 weeks post op. Down almost 40 pounds. Get all my Water in and average 90 grams of Protein a day. I work out at the gym 3 times a week and try to get a good walk in on the other days. This has been an amazing experience.

You look beautiful and so happy!

He looks great!!! Now, where is your photo???

The only thing I ever had trouble with is not ordering a drink. I really just didn't want one around afraid I'd drink out of habit. You know' date=' out of sight/out of mind. The waitress/waiter would always ask, "are you sure you don't want anything to drink?? You sure? Really?" Lol. I once even got the, "but Water is free." ... So now when I first sit I say, "no thank you. I don't drink with my meals." And that seems to work perfectly. And Indigo 1991 was right, once you lose lbs, no one seems to notice what you eat. It just seems normal.[/quote']

I went out to eat with my family for the first time post op a couple of weeks ago and the waitress was shocked beyond belief about me not wanting a drink. She saw me hand my Water glass to my husband. Asked me if I wanted a soda. I said no thanks. She pressed on with iced tea (no), cocktail (no) wine (no) and she said, you don't want ANYTHING to drink? I said very nicely "I don't drink with meals" and she exclaimed loudly "you don't drink with meals? Never heard THAT before". Good thing I was with my family, who obviously know about my surgery. She embarrassed me. And by the way, this was at a very nice steak house.

I dont know what the deal is but ever since i returned home from vsg surgery in Tijuana' date=' all the Drs ive dealt with so far here in Canada, dont have a flipping idea what VSG is. They keep lumping me together with Bypass. I saw my PCP for post op bloodwork and he asked how i was doing and i told him eating was a challenge and getting calories in for the day and he said " thats to be expected with bypass, we knew this would be a challenge for you" and i corrected him for the millionth time and said "sleeve gastrectomy" and he said.."well..bariatric surgery..whatever".

Because i had an incision infection I needed to go see a medical clinic GP and the DR was like " sorry..what did you have? "What is that??". When i said i had a infection in my incision, he got me to lift my shirt so he could see and said "oh..it was done laprascopically!" "I thought they sliced your stomach right across"

Seriously!!! What is the deal!!! How come I know more about the sleeve than any of the DRS that ive seen since i got back?? I mean i have seen 5 different Drs and they had no clue. I had to explain the procedure and how it works.

And another thing...i am sooo sick of people lumping me in with bypass patients. People keep asking me how my intestines are healing and im like "theyre great! They wernt even touched!"

One friend of mine looked at me and said " how much have you lost?" And i said im 2 pounds away from being 40 pounds lost in a month and one week out..and she said "i thought weight loss would be faster"...... and im thinking.. "for real?? " um...i think 40 pounds in 1 month and 1 week is pretty fast... Again...being lumped into the bypass world..people thinking im going to lose an instant amount of weight...

-end of rant[/quote']

I just had someone say something similar to me. She correctly guessed I had surgery then asked me how much I lost. I said 35 pounds at 5 weeks post op which is really 7 weeks bc of pre op diet. She said "I would think you would lose a lot more after surgery". I had to explain that the surgery doesn't remove POUNDS. just enough stomach to allow us to stay on low cal diet. And p.s I think my weight loss of 5 pounds per week on average is fast enough for me!

Agree with glorified candy bars.... that said I do love a Quest bar. I stick with the "natural" ones just because they have a few less calories than the other flavors. My favs are strawberry Cheesecake' date=' Coconut Cashew and chocolate Peanut Butter.[/quote']

Hi! What makes some more natural than others? I'm thinking about ordering some Quest bars...thanks!!

This is very interesting. I don't remember reading this but I wish I had! This is very reassuring. You're absolutely right, all the things we have spent years trying don't work anymore. I feel like I have to re-learn my body all over again. I'm not complaining mind you, because I've never lost the weight like this before. This makes me feel better about upping calories. I will start with 800 this week and work up to 900 in a week or two.

Btw, 36.5 lbs?! WTG!

Thanks!! When the PA called and told me to eat more and exercise less I made her repeat it twice!! Never in my life has anyone ever told me to eat more, move less! Just goes to show that we cannot control everything with this new phase of our lives. It can be frustrating but if the weight comes off, then we know its working. You have a lot less to lose so it will probably come off slower...

This is very interesting. I don't remember reading this but I wish I had! This is very reassuring. You're absolutely right, all the things we have spent years trying don't work anymore. I feel like I have to re-learn my body all over again. I'm not complaining mind you, because I've never lost the weight like this before. This makes me feel better about upping calories. I will start with 800 this week and work up to 900 in a week or two.

Btw, 36.5 lbs?! WTG!

Thanks!! When the PA called and told me to eat more and exercise less I made her repeat it twice!! Never in my life has anyone ever told me to eat more, move less! Just goes to show that we cannot control everything with this new phase of our lives. It can be frustrating but if the weight comes off, then we know its working. You have a lot less to lose so it will probably come off slower...

I'M now 9 weeks post op. I've gone from not being able to eat 500 calories to wanting more than 700 calories. I'm not eating junk. I'm doing at least 70 gms of protein' date=' less than 50 of carbs and they are all complex carbs. No Pasta, bread, sugar. I'm drinking at least 48 oz of Water plus shakes and coffees. I'm taking an antacid everyday. I eat about 2-3 oz of Protein 5 times a day. Still no room for veggies,fruit etc in substantial quantities. But I'm hungry, esp at night. Real hunger, not head hunger. Recently I added a very small amount of walking/jogging/biking. I might burn 150-175 cals with it which is not much but I've gotten hungrier. I've lost 33 lbs in 11 weeks with a 12-day stall at w3 and am currently in a 10+ day stall.

I want to be able to add 100 calories on the days I feel hungry and not worry. But I am concerned that will slow my weight loss down even more. Technically I know that's still a deficit, given that I'm 5'6 and weight 196 lbs but I'm not sure.

I also don't want to be at a very low calorie diet forever and ruin my metabolism any more than it's already jacked up.

I know the logical thing to do is to add it and see what happens but since I'm stalled right now, I'm not sure how I'd know? Would love some advice from others esp about what you did as you were at my weight but even generally how your calories migrated as you were further out from surgery.

Thanks guys.[/quote']

Hi!! I'm sure I mentioned this to you before but...a few weeks ago I hit that dreaded three week stall (I'm six weeks post op tomorrow). I spoke to my surgeons office and they reviewed my calories (500-700) and exercise (light cardio for 50 min 2-3 times a week and. 1-2 mile walk on the other days) Since surgery I had not missed one day of exercise!! They told me that I needed to up my calories to 900 and I needed to decrease my exercise to no more than 30 min a day. As soon as I did as they said the weight loss started up again. I now aim for 900 calories a day and I skip 1-2 days of walking every week. As of today (and including pre op diet) I have lost 36 1/2 pounds. Slow but steady. I was going to bed hungry before but now I save 100 or so calories for before bed. Makes a huge difference. How we used to think of weight loss (starve, fill up on Water, don't eat after a set time, etc etc) no longer applies to us. At least not in the beginning phase...

I'M now 9 weeks post op. I've gone from not being able to eat 500 calories to wanting more than 700 calories. I'm not eating junk. I'm doing at least 70 gms of protein' date=' less than 50 of carbs and they are all complex carbs. No Pasta, bread, sugar. I'm drinking at least 48 oz of Water plus shakes and coffees. I'm taking an antacid everyday. I eat about 2-3 oz of Protein 5 times a day. Still no room for veggies,fruit etc in substantial quantities. But I'm hungry, esp at night. Real hunger, not head hunger. Recently I added a very small amount of walking/jogging/biking. I might burn 150-175 cals with it which is not much but I've gotten hungrier. I've lost 33 lbs in 11 weeks with a 12-day stall at w3 and am currently in a 10+ day stall.

I want to be able to add 100 calories on the days I feel hungry and not worry. But I am concerned that will slow my weight loss down even more. Technically I know that's still a deficit, given that I'm 5'6 and weight 196 lbs but I'm not sure.

I also don't want to be at a very low calorie diet forever and ruin my metabolism any more than it's already jacked up.

I know the logical thing to do is to add it and see what happens but since I'm stalled right now, I'm not sure how I'd know? Would love some advice from others esp about what you did as you were at my weight but even generally how your calories migrated as you were further out from surgery.

Thanks guys.[/quote']

Hi!! I'm sure I mentioned this to you before but...a few weeks ago I hit that dreaded three week stall (I'm six weeks post op tomorrow). I spoke to my surgeons office and they reviewed my calories (500-700) and exercise (light cardio for 50 min 2-3 times a week and. 1-2 mile walk on the other days) Since surgery I had not missed one day of exercise!! They told me that I needed to up my calories to 900 and I needed to decrease my exercise to no more than 30 min a day. As soon as I did as they said the weight loss started up again. I now aim for 900 calories a day and I skip 1-2 days of walking every week. As of today (and including pre op diet) I have lost 36 1/2 pounds. Slow but steady. I was going to bed hungry before but now I save 100 or so calories for before bed. Makes a huge difference. How we used to think of weight loss (starve, fill up on Water, don't eat after a set time, etc etc) no longer applies to us. At least not in the beginning phase...

Oh' date=' I think your guys are down the road from mine! Do you have Dr. Foote or Kemmiter?[/quote']

I had dr. Foote! Where do you go?

I made the zucchini spaghetti tonight with homemade meatballs. Omg soooooo good! I just lightly boiled them in a shallow pot of Water until they were soft. Then added a shake of garlic salt with parsley. My first non puréed meal. A little bite of heaven.

I bought two a couple of weeks ago and after eating one I felt awful, probably bc of the sugars. Won't touch the other one. I like the plain 4 ounce cups that I can quickly grab on my way out the door, for convenience.

I stalled at three weeks and was frustrated. My surgeons office reviewed my caloric intake and workout schedule and insisted I reduce my workout and increase my calories to 900. I now do cardio at the gym for 50 minutes 2-3 times a week and walk a mile or two on the other days but I are at least one day a week off completely!!! I increased my calories to 900 and BOOM, the weight started to come off. Apparently I ad put my body into starvation mode.

Sorry' date=' no I wasn't told I could eat "anything". I was just happy to eat. I was given a pretty large list of pureed meats, Beans, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, pudding, tofu, oatmeal, . Then I saw the NUT this Monday and she told me that if I felt like my tummy could handle more food....then I could try the next stage. (since we are 4 weeks out on nextTuesday) I have had canned chicken, left it in the Water it's packaged in (so it didn't dry out) and heated it in the microwave. The NUT said dry meat is what typically makes you sick, so I could add broth or fat free gravy. I thought I am not eating pureed meat....so I popped it in the microwave and it was DELICIOUS. I ate it slowly and chewed it VERY well. I have had fat free refried Beans and used some fage yougurt to kinda dip them in.....YUM but it sits kinda heavy. And I have some high Protein oatmeal that I have been eating in the morning. I eat over 30-45 min because I don't want to get sick.....also I'm supposed to stop drinking 15 min before and 45 min after. Seems to work.[/quote']

Are you with GHP in Michigan? Your plan is so similar to mine!!

I just ordered sugar free pumpkin spice Syrup. But my fav coffee fix is chike coffee Protein shake every morning. Coffee' date=' cold, Protein, shake. What's not to like? Sent from my iPhone using VST[/quote']

I love the sf pumpkin pie syrup! I use three teaspoons of instant Decaf coffee blended with a little warm Water, add a vanilla or chocolate Premier Protein Shake from costco and three pumps of syrup. Yum!!! And 30 grams of protein. The s'mores and caramel syrups are good too. What is Chike? .

I like "lose it"

I was sleeved on the 26th as well. Including pre op diet I've lost about 32 pounds. I feel great physically, on puréed/mushy food for one more week and two days. I've been exercising every day and my calories stay under 800 most days. They are telling me at the doctors office to exercise a little less (!!!) and eat a little more which cracks me up! But I do notice a better loss when I follow those instructions. Looking forward to being released to all food--the purées don't keep me full longer than 2-3 hours.