Jerzygurl

I really appreciate those who have shared. There are a lot of good habits in here that I should be building but hadn't thought of, such as appreciating my new body, wrinkles and sags and all.
I find myself standing in front of a mirror--and my eyes go straight to the "faulty" parts of me, not the great curves I have gotten back, not my much slimmer thighs and my butt which is still round but so much smaller. Rather I see the fat rolls on my stomach, my sagging tummy, the overhang in my thighs--why oh why do we do this to ourselves?
telling ourselves we are beautiful. Another good habit to learn.

What I am working on right now is learning to like myself as I go through each and every step of this journey...To say to myself this was a good thing to do and I will be much more active and healthier for it....
Also learning to forgive myself for allowing things to get so bad that I had to reach out for emergency help...
To be grateful for the wonderful miracle of WLS for those of us that have exhausted all other avenues...And count success not only by the scale but by the personal growth I have made within my self during this experience....
Each change we make makes us stronger in our resolve to go forward...To continuously check the brain and what it is trying to do to cause me to take risks and not follow through with exploring the real issues that got me to this place in my life....
These things are what I want to become habits so that I can stop going back and forth, and up and down over the same self destructive thinking....
I want to feel like I got this...Working on that one as well....

My new habits:
* I make time to eat Breakfast every day
* I now always have good varied food in the house that I can eat - and no foods that I don't want to eat
* I try to eat like my naturally thin friends - food isn't on their minds all day every day. They view food as fuel, yes to be enjoyed but not at the centre of their world. So I don't weigh every day, I don't log my food intake or my calories - but I know exactly what my daily food intake should look like, what it should comprise of and that's what I aim for. Likewise, I know what my Fluid intake should look like and aim for that. I do not want food to control me any more, so I need to have control but on my terms...
* I eat mindfully - even on my own, I sit at a table, use a small plate, eat slowly and with no tv or distraction.
* I have stopped beating myself up. I don't need to keep reliving the past like I need to be punished for getting fat. I was fat, I have done something about it and whilst I need to be aware that putting weight on is a possibility, I don't intend to live in fear of that for the rest of my life. I just intend to live!!!
* I put my needs up there alongside my duties. I am important and if I don't believe that and look after me, who will???
These won't necessarily work for everyone but today I hit my goal after 8 months, so they work for me :-)))))

Right there with ya! My Multivitamin and the Life Water I'm drinking are giving me enough B12, should I add a tablet? Maybe it's a lack of Protein. I'm not at 60 grams/day yet. I'm around 40.
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Quickest way to up your protein intake is to add some plain protein powder to your broth, puddings, Soups and some Liquid Protein to your water. It will get your numbers up without having to ingest a lot more food.< /p>
The above info I received from the NUT and my Sleeve Mentor when I was struggling with it and it has worked like a charm.
It definitely helped. Doc also said, the body is still recovering from the trauma of surgery, so tiredness is normal, at least for a little bit.

So many people don't know their body fat percentage. I've been using a scale that is quite reliable, but I also found a calculator that seems to return the same results as the scale, so I thought I'd link to it. It also was very reliable for my son and my husband so there we are!

Here we go: http://www.superskinnyme.com/body-fat-calculator.html

I'm not having a LOT of heartburn but, considering I didn't have reflux or heartburn before surgery, it has increased. For me I think some of it's a combo of gas bubbles causing wet burps and acid production. I was told to get Pepcid Complete to help with that. I also take gas x chewable.
If the heartburn is bad I would ask the doc for a prescription PPI. Also, do you think it is related to a certain food? Soft egg yolks were so satisfying for me, but they bit me back a few hours later. Apple sauce with cinnamon also had me pacing the streets with discomfort a couple hours later.
I hope it improves soon!

I bought sublingual B12 last night at Walmart to try and see if that helps.

1. Drinking plenty of Water (this was the easiest for me; I gave up coffee before the surgery and I'm allergic to artificial sweeteners).
2. Daily weighing (but not getting discouraged by the stair step stalls).
3. Workouts (now at 6x a week). This may be my new addiction but my cardio health has improved so much in the last 3 months that this is my biggest NSV.
4. I didn't know the term nutritarian until Miss Mac mentioned it, but I'd say that is an accurate description of my new relationship with food. I've even put my foot down and insisted on organic produce. DH draws the line at grass-fed beef though.
5. Replacing bad habits with "me loving habits" --Lush bath products and skin creams etc.

1. Weighing myself more frequently (in the past i would avoid the scale because i hated seeing my weight go up and the accountablity. I woukd go for 2+ months without weighing once)
2. Eating at home and cooking for myself more (I LOVE eating out and on weekends it wasn't uncommon for me to eat Breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack all at restaurants/coffee shops)
3. Increasing my exercise (i'm starting slowly with a 30 minute daily walk, then I want to increase and start going to the gym)
4. Tracking my food (i bought a little note book that fits into my pocket so even days when i don't have a purse i have no excuse for not carrying it)
5. Going out for junk food (no more Chunky Monkey, raw cookie dough, potato chips, etc in the house!). If i want ice cream, i will go out and have a scoop, not a spoon and an entire carton in front of the t.v. for an hour.
6. Being nicer to myself (i avoid mirrors when i am unclothed and when i do look at my body, i am so critical of my lumps and bumps. I am trying to look at myself and focus on the good and take action to "correct" the bad rather than just saying "ugh, look at your flabby thighs. Gross. You are such a pig. Look at your double chin, those nasty, bulging love handles. You're so gross. How can your husband stand to look at you naked?" and eating another hot dog)
7. Smaller, slower bites
8. Not drowning my food in salt and sauces. I've been avoiding salt and other seasonings and am finding that i actually like the natural flavor of a lot of things. Like i used to put salt on foods before even tasting them.
9. Tiny sips of Water all day (this is the hardest)
10. Saying "no thank you" when offered temptations and NOT feeling guilty. (This is hard because in my culture "food is love". So i dread when we go home for the holidays having to tell my husband's sweet Grandmother. "No thank you")
Wow! Thank you for this question. It's really made me think and bring my thoughts to paper so they are more concrete. I'm going to copy paste these into a word document and print them out for my WLS scrapbook

Weighed in this am, down 4 more!
HW 348
SW 330
CW 300

Weighed in this am, down 4 more!
HW 348
SW 330
CW 300

1. Keeping the house free of bad foods. If I don't bring it over threshold then it can't cross it.
2. Hitting the gym at least 4x a week.
3. Drinking a minimum of 64 oz of Water every day.
4. No late night eating (this is a real life changer for me because I was a late night/midnight snacker)
5. Not succumbing to the pressures of my life by turning to food as a comfort.
6. Taking my supplements and Vitamins religiously.
7. Telling myself how wonderful and beautiful I am every morning.

You could call your PCP and get a B-12 shot. I finally got one yesterday. I was feeling draggy this week, upped my protein at the advice of my NUT but still went in and got a shot.

1. Keeping the house free of bad foods. If I don't bring it over threshold then it can't cross it.
2. Hitting the gym at least 4x a week.
3. Drinking a minimum of 64 oz of Water every day.
4. No late night eating (this is a real life changer for me because I was a late night/midnight snacker)
5. Not succumbing to the pressures of my life by turning to food as a comfort.
6. Taking my supplements and Vitamins religiously.
7. Telling myself how wonderful and beautiful I am every morning.

Hmmm... that's a tough one. I've already broken so many bad habits.
I think for me the number one thing is to eat more slowly. .. remember it's not a race and since I have such a small amount of food it's ok to take longer to eat it.
And exercise. . Remembering how much healthier I feel when I get at least some exercise even if I dont want to.

Great idea! I am working on a lot of things, but mainly:
1. Making a better effort with my Water. I am usually close, but then I give it the "oh that's close enough".
2. Worrying less about the number on the scale. I am happy for the weight loss, but I don't want to focus on it so much that I am continuously disappointed.
3. Making the gym a routine, and not talking myself out of going. I have a billion excuses at the ready!

Great question.
I think (thank goodness) that the food stuff is pretty formulaic at this point. I need to incorporate more vegetables but I haven't even tried salads yet.
My biggest habit that I am trying to make solid as a rock is exercising 4 times per week. I'd say 5, but realistically that won't always work in my schedule. Ideally though I'd like to be at CrossFit 3x per week and swim two days.
That said, my CrossFit coach has always said that nutrition is 80% of body definition/achieving fitness goals. In other words, you can work out 6 times per week but if you don't eat clean most of the time it's an exercise in futility, if changing your body is your goal.
So, maintaining these eating habits, such as they are. Exercising as much as I can, given a really hectic schedule. Remembering that panic is futile; planning is key.

You know how they always tell us the surgery was on our stomach, not our brains? And that the first six-nine months are the perfect times to build good habits that set the foundation for later, when your sleeve relaxes and you can eat more?
I'm curious to know what new habits you are working on to help you into a new lifestyle, or for the vets, the habits that have stood them in good stead over the months and years.
For my husband and me, here's a starting list:
1. No saying "just this once" six times a week.
2. Not bringing food into the house that I shouldn't be putting into my body.
3. Trying to move about during the day instead of sitting at my desk for 8 straight hours caught up in work.
4. Not eating after 8 pm.
5. Drinking constantly
6. Weighing daily
7. Entering food into MFP with no excuses allowed.
How about you?

WOW!!! 48 pounds down. That is FANTASTIC! Congratulations!

Weighed in this am, down 4 more!
HW 348
SW 330
CW 300

Please use the following format when recording your weight:
HW:
SW:
CW:
(highest weight, surgery weight, and current weight)
I am taking our weight loss from the highest weight so it's important that we celebrate where you are from where you started!

My doc gave me a general amount, 60g daily as a minimum, but 75-100g daily for optimal weight loss (for a woman). I've been averaging 75-85g protein since the first day I was allowed it (day 3), and I've lost 21 pounds since surgery three weeks ago (about 38 pounds total). Doc attributes that weight loss to hitting my Fluid and protein goals. Hope he's right!

My largest incision hurt a lot, and if I did too much bending, it would hurt more. Surgeon explained that was the one area that they do a through-and-through intramuscular stitch, and that when the stitch dissolved, the pain would dissipate. He was right. By three weeks post-op, I have no pain anywhere, and the dimpling around that incision has reduced.

Remember, small steps. It is all a process...I had pureed foods yesterday and it was great. I can eat 1/3 cup at a meal. It gets better.

Meamo:
I can totally relate to what you are saying and I can testify that it does get better. Keep trying different things to drink. I could not stand Water, but Propel works well for me. I could not tolerate the clear Protein Drinks, but the Oh Yeah Protein shakes work well. What turned the corner for me was to be able to have small sips of Soup. I took Progresso Soups like Wedding Soup, strained out all the solids and heated the remaining liquid. It just took awhile for my stomach to calm down.
Don't be afraid to call your Dr. office to tell them what is going on. I had a scopamine patch for nausea which helped. The other thing I did was that every time I felt gas pains I would walk around my house - several laps and I could hear the gas bubbles moving around - the movement seemed to help settle my stomach. If you look back at my posts I was lost, but it did get better and it will for you. You are in my prayers for a quick turn around.