Miss Mac

9 weeks post-op Cup of hot tea with meds exercise before breakfast Breakfast: egg and either a piece of bacon or 1 oz of leftover meat from dinner (steak is my favorite) Mid-morning snack: usually 3 oz Greek yogurt with berries Lunch: tuna and egg salad or 1/2 cup of leftover stew or Soup Afternoon snack: 1 slice of deli turkey rolled with slice of avocado and tomato Dinner: 1 oz some kind of meat, with some kind of veggie Exercise: If I am having a good energy day, I will add a second exercise session. When this nasty weather breaks, it can be an after dinner walk with my sweetie. Bedtime: hot chocolate made with sugar free cocoa mix and whey Protein chocolate powder and lite Cool Whip When I quit eating so much cheese, my plateau broke and constipation quit.

I did not have the lap band prior to my sleeve, so I will let others with that experience address that. But I do trust that the sleeve can be the next right step for you. I wish you good luck and good health.

Congratulations on surviving your five mile walk. I get it. Before my sleeve I was rapidly becoming an invalid. I am in an exercise program now, but it takes a new decision every day to decide if I am going to sit and watch TV all day (I am retired) or get up and shake this body to the music. What kind of weather is going on where you are?

Today's weigh in for St. Patrick Challenge is - 184.

My man put a humidifier in the bedroom. I may still wake up with ketone horse breath, but not dried out lips. Also, bring out the Chapstick.

Same here. I have said before on this forum that Federal BC/BS is the best insurance I have ever had - ever. I am six months into my program and two months post-op and still have not received a bill for anything except my doctor office co-pays. Also, losing the first fifty pounds has made a remarkable difference in the pain in my joints. Even my posture is better. I will always have post-stroke mobility / balance issues, but the pain relief is noticeable.

Squats and lunges will do it.

Between weeks three and six, I lost the same pound probably five times. Things are back on track. Going into week nine, I just had my second closet flush. My man can eat bread and potatoes all day long and not gain weight. One difference between us is that he is active with man chores all day long, and I am more sedentary even though I am in an exercise program. The human body just was not made for so much sitting. I will be glad when spring comes so I can get outside to move and around more. Even though I have lost fifty pounds since my pre-op program, it just mentally does not happen fast enough. Oh well.

My favorite thing is to make meatball size balls with chocolate whey Protein and Peanut Butter, real thick like playdough. Then I chill them in the fridge and grab one if I have a day when I must have a something in between lunch and dinner.

I was allowed to walk to my heart's content. At two weeks, I was allowed to lift light weights only - no more than five pounds, but at the time, 2 was enough. At eight weeks out now, I can pretty much do what I want, but weights are still restricted to five pounds.

At the end of my four month pre-op period, I had lost 23 pounds, but the clinic submitted my weigh-in number for the day I first walked through their door.

Two weeks here...just kept it tame.

Yeah, everybody's program is different. Follow your team's advice.

My starting point and results are similar to NMJG.

Puree stage: banana, peaches, applesauce. I am on solid foods now, but am still just eating bananas (1/2 a day) or canned peaches or applesauce - sugar free. Probably when summer hits I will see how I tolerate melons.

Congratulations for getting back on track. You are your own best advocate. My trigger that has the most potential to trip me up in pain. When the sciatica acts up, a potato or potato Soup is all I can think of. My go to however is scrambled eggs...yum.

Oh man, I tried mashed cauliflower in my pureed phase and thought someone was trying to pull my ribs out of my chest. I am at two months now, and I am not eating cauliflower for a long time. I did best with yogurt, eggs, and pureed Soups....everyone's tolerances are so different. A lot of people cannot go back to eggs, but they are my "go to".

I also was sidelined by DDD, and had ACDF surgery 2/14/2013. My sleeve surgery was 12//23/2013. I have lost 48 pounds from pre-op to now. For the last three years, I have had a lumbar epidural every three months. I was able to go five months this time, and just had my shot last Wednesday. The previous one was September. The staff at the pain clinic did not recognize me. So, I was pleased that the weight loss is starting to make a difference. I am hoping another 50 pounds will help me put off L5/S1 surgery for a long time. Aside from less back pain, my balance and posture are so much better without so much pendulous belly pulling me forward. My primary said that my back problem was a front problem! I also can mobilize so much easier, and roll over in the bed easier. Now I am exercising every day and doing strength training 2X a week to videos here at home. Trust me, the surgery will help you pull out of the medical quagmire you are in. You have come to the right place for support. Good luck with your surgery and recovery.

My capacity is 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons, which I guess is about 1/2 cup. I can't imagine eating more than that without my new tummy exploding back into my mouth. Like the others have said, eat small (baby spoon) bites, and eat them slowly to give that new tummy time to respond. You will get that tupperware burp or a big yawn or a hiccup or something. Miss Tummy will talk to you if you listen to it. You cannot eat at the same pace and volume of your old tummy. And really, I think your family is insensitive to expect you to navigate eating in a restaurant with all the sights and smells. I think most of the rest of us were also advised to withhold beverages 1/2 hour either side of eating, and then only sipping gradually....no big chugs like we used to. And I don't think I have ever disagreed with Madam Reverie on this forum. She is spot on, once again. Your doctor just severed 80%-85% of your stomach and jerked it out of your body. You will do damaged if you are not pro-active about your own care. If you measure 1/2 cup of food and eat that....walk away from the rest. I have a rule to measure, and then never eat the last bite. Good luck with your recovery.

Any meat or veg that my man was eating, and we put it in the food processor with some broth. My morning go to was scrambled eggs. I had my first Wendy's chili the day the doc said I could move on to solids......on the way home from the doctor's office - couldn't wait.

For me it was 80%. My nutritionist said that my food volume is somewhere around 1//3 cup plus two tablespoons, and that is pretty much where my tupperware burp kicks in.

Fiddleman, I am 8 weeks out and doing strength training and modified cardio in the house. You sound like a perfect candidate for Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint website. Tons of advice for both beginners, advancing and the retiring athletes. His program is largely non equipment and body weight with some dumbells / kettlebells as an option. Completely affordable and do-able. Variety is based on wherever your imagination can take you. Once this lousy Chicago winter breaks into spring, I am gone to find a park with a hill so I can walk and lunge uphill, do push ups against trees, pull ups on the monkey bars....you know - take this show outside. I am getting a serious case of post-op cabin fever. In anticipation, I even bought a pair of Vibram five-finger shoes for barefoot walking with some traction. I found them on clearance at Travelcountry.com. Vibram's site is expensive. Who knew I would turn into an outside granny gym rat?

Atkins has been very good to me twice, and then I soon as I ate that first potato, it was all over and the weight quickly came back. So I know this time that carbs have to be let out of their cage on an extremely limited basis for me. Recently I have become familiar with the concepts of the Primal Blueprint, which is very similar to the Caveman approach to eating and exercise. Since I am already post-op low carb out of necessity, Primal is not such a stretch. One adjustment that I have had to make since my total calories are limited to 800, is to let green Beans and tomatoes become my fruit most of the time. Probably when I get to goal I can re-examine the whole plan for maintenance. The exercise program makes a lot of sense too, and it is something I can do. You can check it out at primalblueprint.com.

Today's weight is 188.

Ten pounds in 17 days sounds pretty darn good to me. We all get in a hurry to reach our goal, but our bodies have a way of pacing us own their own. You can expect to have stop and go with your weight loss from here on it. Just follow doctors orders and take good care of yourself. I don't think we even have the luxury of cheat days now. We all did this to save our lives. You have made the biggest step by following through with the surgery. Good luck with your recovery. You will be flushing out your closet before you know it.