lark60

start weight 168 goal weight 160

I drink them cut 50/50 with water (have tried all the flavors) and when I have a stall, I drink the clear protein drinks for 2 days to help get over the stall.

I thought I was loosing slowly. I had my surgery 2 months before her and have lost more than double her loss. Something doesn't add up.

I would like to participate too! This will be my first challenge (I missed the valentines day one by a few days)

I add Fiber One (the original Cereal that looks like fish food stix). I use about 2 tbs and this works for me to stay regular. Since a serving has 14 gm of fiber (in 1/2 cup) I figure I get about 7 gm of fiber, plus the cereal has added Vitamins and minerals (which I am always trying to get in my diet in hopes to get off all the pills)

I had a similar experience with my surgeons recommendations at the beginning. He didn't want me eating "anything but protein" and drinking Water. He would tell me I could loose weight by "just drinking the Protein drinks 3 times a day and no other food till I hit my target weight. (thats under 500 cal a day) I hit my first plateau at about 6 weeks and couldn't keep up with the exercise regimen with this limited intake. I spoke with others that have been through the surgery and told them my concerns (also had the same concern about fiber intake) I chose to increase my calorie intake against the surgeon and NUT recommendations. The weight started coming off again, my energy level came up and I could exercise again. I am now eating about 900 cal a day and usually get 50 oz of water in (that is my biggest struggle) I am loosing slowly and no longer need laxatives (I add fiber to my yogurt snack in the afternoon) There are many threads on this site with suggestions for daily intake. The best rules to remember are to get enough protein (at least 20 gm per meal and 10 per snack), water and exercise daily. Watching carbs & fat are secondary to getting the protein needed. Complex carbs are good and also needed to balance the protein intake. Avoid simple carbs.

Jerky is a great treat and since you can carry it with you, it is good for those times when you cannot find Protein when you are out and about. I do not recommend eating it until you are at least 4 months post surgery. You also have to chew the jerky ALOT before swallowing. Some surgeons do not recommend beef until you are 6 months out. I couldn't eat beef until 6 months but found I could eat beef jerky at 4 months (maybe cuz I would chew it "forever" before swallowing to make sure it wouldn't get stuck)

I have type 2 DM, and Hashimotos thyroid (low thyroid). I wanted to get the gastric bypass but after researching the options and talking with the surgeon decided the sleeved would be the best choice. My weight loss has been slower than the surgeon expected but I am still loosing. Initially I had several stalls and they were usually because I was not eating enough calories. I had to add an afternoon snack to get the calories up to 800-900 calories. I am 9 months out from the surgery and still have a Protein shake Breakfast and dinner. lunch is 1/2 cup of food with 20-25 gm protein, then a veggie, rarely do I get fruit in that meal. I find I can add fruit to the breakfast shake to get at least one serving of fruit in the day. My afternoon snack is greek yogurt and cottage cheese mixed together (2 oz serving of the mix) or an ounce of cheese (usually a cheese stick) or 1/2 a Protein Bar. I struggle with getting the Water intake needed each day (to be honest, I think I have only had 20 oz of water today but this has been a bad day for me) Exercise for me is walking or work out with the WII. I shoot for 10000 steps a day. Reading your diet menu I was surprised you could eat 2 eggs and other food for one meal. I am lucky to get one egg down and usually cannot eat anything else for that meal.

I am 54, sleeved at the end of last May. I do have "loose" skin on my thighs, abs and my breasts are "flat" so I guess the skin is loose there too. I plan on having my upper arms "trimmed" after I get to my goal weight but haven't decided if I will have any other surgery.

I'm 5'2 and my starting weight was 265. Now 8 months out and almost to the 100 lb lost mark. It has been slower than the surgeon expected but I have a lot of stress in my life at the moment. I am just happy the weight is still coming off.

Insomnia is why I am reading your thread at 3 AM. I cannot fall asleep and hate tossing and turning in bed so I get up, surf the web till I am finally tired and hope I don't sleep all the next day. I used to work night shift and think my body prefers being up at night but I never get more than 3-4 hours of sleep when I finally do get to sleep. (and I don't wake to pee, just wake and am up for the day)

contact your insurance carrier and explain the situation to them. They can note the issue in your file and recommend the next step. They should let you establish with another provider (and will probably give you a list of names if you ask so you can see who can get you in the soonest) and allow an exception since this was to be your last weigh in. As for the letter, there should have been notes in your file with your current PCP and the new provider should be able to write the letter with those notes (or you could get lucky and find a new doc that is willing to go off your history and write the letter for you) Good luck

Most likely your Vitamin levels are starting to drop. Low magnesium, zinc and potassium will affect how you feel. Thats why the 3 month labs check all the vitamin levels to see if you are taking enough supplements.

I too was not impressed with my first local group meeting sponsored by the surgical office. The meetings were for pre-op and post op patients and so the information was very general and basic. There wasn't really a forum to ask questions and I was not comfortable asking specifically what I needed to know about with so many pre-op individuals there trying to get their questions answered. I did find another support group in the area and liked it better but trying to fit the meetings in my schedule plus the group meets on the opposite side of town than where I live made it hard to get to the once a month meeting. I prefer getting online daily and reading the treads here. Plus I feel more at ease answering others questions as well as posing my own. I have told several people about this site so they can get the information about WLS and have support after surgery.

I am not sure specifically what part drooping you are asking about. I am 8 months post sleeve and have lost over 90 lbs so far. Gravity is not a girls best friend and as the weight comes off there is extra skin "everywhere". I was sad to have saggy breasts and have gone from a 42 DD to a 34 C. I hate to look at myself in the mirror in my birthday suit since "things sag" and look like empty bags laying on my chest. As for the Hoo-Ha (south parts I am supposing) the skin sags a bit and since I wear boxer type skivvies I have noticed the outer lips parting when I walk. Never felt this sensation before but I wouldn't get surgery to "tighten things up". Hope this gives you some sort of an answer (not that I would call myself an expert)

I started donating clothes as I dropped a few sizes. When clothes started hanging on me, my co-workers commented that I needed to go shopping. I was confused at first and then they clarified that I shouldn't keep wearing things that were too big. I have always had multiple sizes of clothing in the closet so I too have organized them by size. As things get baggy, I move them to the donation pile. Since the surgery, I have donated over 15 bags (the kitchen size bags) of clothes to Good Will. No longer are there size 20, 22, 24 or 26 clothing in my house. There are 5 bags of size 18 and 16 in the garage for the next pick up. I am now wearing 14 (almost too loose) and 12's (fit just right). I didn't have many size 12's and don't want to buy any so the 14's will do until I am in the 10's. My goal is to wear a size 8 so after the surgery, my daughter took me out shopping to by my "dream wardrobe". I have them tucked away and hope to be in the size 8 in a few months.

Well…not to rain on your parade but I figured I would tell you my experience with DM. I was taking 2 oral medications before surgery and stopped both the day before the sleeve. My first 3 month lab had an A1c at 5.3 so I was ecstatic. Then at the 6 month labs the A1c jumped to 6.7 so I started back on Metformin. Next month I will get the 9 month labs and anticipate my A1c 6.0 or lower. I am happy to only be on one medication. I know there is NO cure for DM. WLS will buy one time off meds and that is the reality.

There were several things that led up to my decision to get sleeved. I have always felt over weight (even as a child) and it seemed I was always on some form of diet. It was the typical yo-yo loose/gain cycle. I would gain an average of 5 lbs with each pregnancy (I have 4 kids) and then try to loose the weight. After I divorced, I gained 100 lbs in 1 year (LOTS of stress). I didn't care anymore. My focus then was supporting my 4 kids and put "me" on the back burner. 5 years ago I decided it was time to loose the extra weight (at that time I weighed 230 lbs) and went on a no carb, high Protein, 1200 cal diet. I lost 60 lbs in 7-8 months, then hit a plateau and again had high stress in my life. I managed to keep the weight off for almost 2 years. Then I moved to a new city, which means dealing with a new primary care provider (I have Hashimoto's thyroid disease and cannot convert synthyroid (T4) into the active T3 and so my medications are higher than what most endocrinologists recommend. So the PCP's always try to lower my medication doses) Of course my weight shot up. When I complained to him that I was frustrated he didn't listen to me and that I was now at 265 lbs. He suggested WLS. I went home and thought about the suggestion and did some further research. The "last straw" was watching my mother (she is a 225 lb 4'10" butterball but she is my mother) laying in the hospital after her 4th heart attack and the cardiologist telling her she needs to loose weight, get active and keep her diabetes under control. I decided at that moment to go for the surgery. I do not want to end up "stuck" health wise as my mother. Now, I am more than half way to my weight goal, have decreased my blood pressure and almost reversed the diabetes. My knees no longer hurt when I walk (and I walked 5 miles today in under an hour), I don't get short of breath walking up stairs, I fit clothes that have been hidden in my closet for over 30 years and even was complimented by my ex last week!

Welcome to the site! You can find great information to help you set and meet your goals. I would say to you that if you feel you need to loose more weight, go back to the diet you used while trying to loose those first 50 lbs. Drinking the Protein shakes (20 gms of protein per shake) for 2 meals a day and one meal with "real food" is the best way to get back on the weight loss track. Skip the starches for a while (bread, Pasta, potatoes, rice and grains) so your body works on getting the stored fat burned. Don't snack between meals and drink 80-100 oz of Water every day. Good luck and hang in there!

I have a teal butterfly on the left upper breast. My story is not as "special" as some on this thread. I got it after I was divorced and was hanging out with co-workers (I never worked while I was married) so I was about 34 years old. My new co-workers were surprised that I didn't have a tat so they took me out to get one. Even though I was an adult when I decided to get the tat, I hid the fact from my mother for another 5 years. She found out when the family was together for a reunion and I was laying out at the pool and my suit wasn't covering one of the wings.

So I have looked at what I have spent since gearing up for the sleeve and after. I have spent about the same amount but on "different food". The cost to get quality Protein shakes and Vitamins was the initial expense and now when I go out for fresh items I do spend less each month. I have not purchased bread, milk or juice (or chips, popcorn, Snacks or junk food) in 8 months. The funny thing is when family come to my house to visit. I have to tell them that they need to stop at the store for "the basics" before coming over because my diet doesn't include milk, bread or juice.

Since I live alone, I don't like to cook at all since getting sleeved. I have resorted to heating canned Soups or making a "sandwich" for lunch. I have had a few "salads" but like those who already commented on salads, mine too are usually the guts of a salad with maybe a few spinach leaves and after I try to make a small salad, I can eat 1/2 of what is there. Unfortunately the left over doesn't keep well, so I am still trying to downsize what I make for my one meal a day.

Ok, so I have ventured out in terms of what I eat for my "real meal" and have a few comments that, hopefully, will help others NOT to repeat my mistake. We all know the rule "don't drink with a meal" right? Well I was out at Outback steak house and wanted to "eat a little more steak" so I drank some Water (just a few sips) and was surprised that I could eat a few more bites of my meal (prime rib with broccoli and green beans). Then I started feeling my heart race like I had taken NoDoz, and was slightly dizzy. Being a diabetic, I checked my sugar (116) and that wasn't the problem. I felt awful for the next couple hours. Trying to figure things out, I read different topics on this site. I believe I just encountered the onset of "dumping syndrome". I do not recommend anyone try this. It was an educational experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy (well maybe my ex but no one else) Tonight (you would think I had a thick head or something) I was invited out to Dairy Queen and said yes to the invite. I had counted up the calories I had consumed and since I met my water requirement (finally) plus Protein intake for the day, I still had only eaten about 600 cal so I figured I could "splurge" on 1/2 a mini blizzard. I was eating it slowly (like a good girl) and talking with my son. Before I knew it I had eaten the whole mini blizzard (the contain 1 cup of decadance) and I didn't feel full. I mentioned this to my son and he thought it possibly was because I was eating so slow the ice cream was liquid and moved through faster than a solid. Well a few minutes later I started having the racing heart beats and dizziness. Yup, another episode of dumping. So I plan on sticking to sharing when out to eat or have a treat in the future (I never want to eat much more than a bite or 2 when I share with someone else). Just felt like sharing my recent experience with you all.

It could have been urethral trauma from the catheter and not actually vaginal bleeding.

Water is defiantly important. I am almost 8 months post sleeve and still have to remember to get in enough water. I am trying something new today to hopefully get the water I know my body needs. I have set up the required liquid on my table so I can see the days amount. Then as I go about my routine, I will see the bottles and sip on the water (and Vitamin waters) so, hopefully, by the evening I will have taken in at least 80 oz of water (4-20 oz bottles) plus the water to make my Protein shakes to meet the required 96 oz daily. I remember the first weeks post surgery and how hard it was to be able to keep up with the house, work and trying to adjust to the new food/water regimen. I could not take in more that 3 oz of ANYTHING for the first 3 months so trying to get in just the Protein Shakes let alone the water was a nightmare. I felt like all I did all day was drink, drink drink (actually sip, sip, sip). Plus since I was only taking in Liquid Protein, my bum was raw from the acid squirting out (sorry for the graphic picture but no one warned me that the liquid diet was that harsh). The good news is that this goes away when full liquids add back substance to what you take in and what "comes out". Hang in there and remember, the house can wait while you adjust to your new routine.