Ellie_Grace

Glad you surgery went well. Rest and get your strength back and do not forget to walk. Keep advocating and nice to see you on the post-op side of the boards.

I have rarely known a time that I was not overweight after I became a teenager. My mother was morbidly obese and I always grew up with the fear that I would also become obese. I remember sadly being embarrassed for my mother and I never wanted to be "the kind of mom" that my kids would have to be embarrassed for me either. I was at a normal weight when I was 13, which I know now, but at 125 I felt fat. But I was determined to fight this and be thin. This changed for me when my grandmother told me that I was fat and that no matter what I did I would be fat like my mother. At that point I remember just giving up and started putting on the pounds. Throughout school I had no self-esteem and was a figure for redicule throughout elementary and high school, for various reasons. I generally weighed about 195 and was proud that I at least never hit 200, but I was miserable and never could do anything. I limited my life based on my size and let other's opinions of me determine who I was. At 20 I met a good friend and together we started working out and dieting and I lost down to 145. It was wonderful and I became this happy positive person, I was outgoing and energetic and people called me "peppy". I loved it, but again I let others determine who I was. I met my husband to be and we dated , got engaged and married all within 8 months. Everything was great and then I got pregnant and then the pounds started packing back on. I remember crying that I would be be fat and he would stop loving me. He told me that he would love me but not respect me. That was a big issue and one we had to work through and I know today he really does still love and respect me but those words hurt badly at the time. His mother had even asked him if he could handle me getting fat, because she knew I would after meeting my mother. Fast forward to 6 kids later and many diets and trying to lose weight and now I weigh 278 (again proud at least I never hit 280, how delusional was I?). I had become a couch potato, afraid to meet and make friends. Never felt worthy of being a friend and why would anyone want to be "my friend"? I isolated from others and didnt volunteer in my kids' classrooms, well rarely anyway. I know a lot of this was my own self esteem issues and fear, but my childhood taught me that I was not capable of fitting into the real world. I did go back to college (at the push of my one friend and husband) and got my Master's in Social Work, but that let me experience even more prejudice. In class I would sit there the first day and no one would want to sit next to me. Soon we would have to seperate into groups for our group assignments and no one would want to be my partner, like they assumed I was stupid or something. The only nice thing was after the first group project people were wanting to be in my group because dang it I was a smart woman and worked hard. Over time I saw people begin to respect me, but I had to overcome their prejudice of fat people. I did graduate with suma cum laude with a 3.97 GPA and felt success for the first time in my life. I had developed knee problems, back problems, pre-diabetes, arthritis, plantars faciatitis, depression and other such ailments. I was always tired and never wanted to do or go anywhere. Ok that is wrong I wanted badly to do everything but I was not able to do it, or I believed I was not able to do it. I had applied for WLS while I was going to college but I lost too much weight and I was denied. So last August I started my journey again to take my life back and become the woman I have always been, beautiful and proud, but hardly anyone had been willing to see me. So I began this journey, did the 6 month set of diet classes and all the other hoops. Fearful I would be denied again, but I was not and here I am 7 weeks post-op in the beginning stages of my journey. My surgery was June 7, 2012. I had lost 11 pounds the week before surgery (after approval had come through - LOL) and at my surgery date I weighed 250, Today I weigh 221 which is a loss of 40 pounds since this began. I am not done, I have much more to lose and much much more to gain. I am ready to claim myself back. I am ready to claim back my health and my life. I am ready to explore the world that I have always been afraid to explore. I am ready to make my family proud of me. I am ready to be proud of myself, its about time!

I desperately need to increase my protein levels, but I have not yet found a shake I can actually drink they all make me gag and I can only get in one or two swallows. Everyone keeps talking about the unflavored unjury powder I can add to my food and get in more protein that way. I went to the unjury site and dang it is expensive. It would cost me 20$ (without shipping0 every week just to get in the extra 40g of protein a dayI am trying to increase my protein by. That is pretty steep. Does anyone know where I can buy it for cheaper or know of as good a product as the unflavored protein powder that I can buy? I need to do this soon cause I can only seem to get in 45 to 50 g of protein a day on a good day through just my food. So HELP!! I will resort to the extra money if I have to, but would rather not. Thanks Protein is out to kill me I swear!!!

Oh I have 6 children, but only two left at home and the youngest was 10 when I had surgery. He was old enough to understand and has embraced the whole thing and constantly encourages me and is excited about the things we can do together. Right now we do Wii Fit together and go on walks together and he loves it. At 8 and 9 they are definetly old enough to grasp what is going on and not telling them might be a mistake (in my opinion) just tell them as I suggested before, without all the possible complications. It sounds like your daughter is already worried, so telling her you are going to get "fixed" so you can be healthier and be around might ease her fears anyway. I could go into child development etc, but I won't but suffice it to say your children are old enough to know to some extent what is going on without freaking them out or scaring them to death, as long as you tell them in a positive way. They will pick up on your fears so try to be positive and honest with them. Best of luck!

I would never suggest not telling your children. What if something were to happen to you and then they would be totally blindsided. I know they are young, but you can certainly just explain you are going to a doctor who is going to help make you healthier and one of the things he will be doing for you is fixing your stomach so you have to eat healthy. This means you have to be in the hospital for a couple of days but can call them and talk to them and reassure them you will be home soon. Also share with them all the things they gain from your surgery and life changes (as someone else already said) and involve them in helping you be healthier. For example: have them choose healthy food (good time to teach them about nutrition even at a young age) for dinner, Snacks etc, have them go on walks with you, let them be your trainers. Give them permission to help you drink all the time. Let them be responsible for reminding you to drink etc. I dont mean to overwhelm them, but allow them be excited about mommy being healthy and getting to go on walks and swimming and playing with them. Then they will learn about exercise and healthy living from you and be excited with you as you get healthier.

There is a topic already opened called My fitness pal (I think) and it has a lot of people's names who are interested in being buddies on the app. Hop over there and add all of us. I personally am enjoying having all these people from here on there motivating and supporting me in there too. it is fun to see how everyone is doing and watching their progress. I am Odiemom101 on the app BTW.

I found this was an issue for me too. I found freezing water bottles was the key to get in my liquids. I am almost 8 weeks out and it still is an issue, but is getting better. Oh crushing ice in a food processor or blender lets you eat the ice which felt so good, and you can buy sugar free sryups to put on the ice for a nice cold treat. I don't have issues with food just water, unless I am trying to eat it too fast then my stomach cramps. Of course too much fat or sugar will do that too, but it doesnt sound like that is your concern. My doctor said the water was because of the chemicals or taste causing the issue and having it cold removed that issue, I find it weird but ice cold works, so who am I to complain. Just glad I found a way to get in my liquids because that was worrisome for awhile. I hope you figure it out soon.

I am so frustrated! I know everyone has issues with this, but to be honest I thought I would go through a stall and then start moving and then it would be a couple months at least before I hit another stall. But NO... I am in this vicious cycle that is emotionally draining and has be stressed out and frustrated. The week before sugery I lost 11 pounds, then in the next 2 weeks I lost 20 pounds but as of 2 weeks post op I have begun this cycle. I gain a pound then I stall for a week, lose 2-3 pounds then gain a pound and stall for a minimum of a week and then restart. I have lost a total of 10 pounds since my 2 week post op weigh in. I am now almost 8 weeks post op, so that is 6 weeks without losing more than 10 pounds. Don't get me wrong I know it is great I have lost 40 pounds YAY ME!! but to only lose 10 pounds in 6 weeks at this stage is so hard to deal with. I feel like I am going nowhere and why did I do this surgery?? I eat between 400 to 800 calories a day and I always exercise, with one day off a week for the required break from exercising. I have started uping my calories to above 600 and increasing exercising but nothing seems to be making a difference!! I think I would just give up if I could, but I don't want to and I am determined not to, but to be honest this sucks and I am so tired of not losing weight or inches etc. I have seen minimal progress in 6 weeks. I know its better for my skin, but that is just words that don't really take away the frustration or anger at what's happening right now. I was told that we lose the bulk of our weight in the first 3 months and then it really slows down, so what the heck? I must be screwed then. I am sorry to be going off, but I am so frustrated and emotional about this. I wanted to succeed at this and finally get healthy and be there for my children and husband, but it seems to be not working for me. No matter how hard I am trying or how positive I have tried to be. How do you keep being positive when hope is slowly draining away and others seems to just be melting away? I know I can't compare myself to others but that is impossible and I am comparing myself to others who started at my weight and some I know lost way more than me are cheating on this (eating pizza etc. and never exercise!!) so how to stay motivated and when will this start to work for me? I begin to think I just dont deserve to get healthy and that is what my body is telling me, that I am just the failure I always have been. I am tired of being emotional and tired and not making progress. Ok enough whining...thanks for listening. Ellie

I have not thrown up yet and I am 7 weeks post op. I guess some people did nothing but throw up, but I have yet to experience that special joy (and willing to continue to miss out on that one, thank you). I think in general if you are very careful in the amount of food, the type of food and to chew chew chew you might be able to avoid it. I once ate something with too much sugar (greek yogurt) but I did not throw it up, but got bad cramps and spent on and off in the bathroom that morning at work (wheeee joy joy), but never thrown up. Some people have different issues or that is just how their body works and nothing they do will stop it, but I think that is not the majority of us. But I could be wrong. Measure out your portions and pay attention to your body to know what the right portion for your body is. I still try to keep my food to 1/3 to 1/2 cup of food at a meal. Sometimes I am stuffed at 1/3 and others I can eat more, but never more than 1/2 c. It depends on the food itself really. Keep sugar grams and fat gram low and masticate until you can can't stand it. LOL Best of luck!!

I didn't vomit or feel sick to my stomach but I did start to have a panic attack at work-uckily I washable squash it. Can u imagine freaking out in front of hundreds of peers in a mide of a training?? Lol. All good now and 7 weeks post op

Yes, it is. Oh I think the larger curd cottage cheese tastes best for this, but just my opinion. Whether you add cool whip or not.

At the hospital I found that eating was not too hard (I never had to do a swallow test) and ice chips were awesome. I took advantage of the pain medicine, since I rather take it before I felt the pain instead of waiting for the pain and it not getting controlled. But my pain was minimal but like the rest said the gas pain was the worst. Walking really is the key, I found that every couple hours I could feel it building back up so would go for a walk and it helped. I slept most of the time (or dozed in and out) for the first day and the second day was raring to get home. I walked at least 4 times a day and three times a day when I got home (15 min at a time, but slowly). Rest the best you can at the hospital. At home finding a comfortable position to sleep in was the hard part, but once I did that and took a pain pill sleeping at night was fine. During the day I just took it easy and went on my walks. I set up a schedule for eating, since I never felt hungry. My hubby made my food (such as it was) and that way I did not have to choose my food. He knew what I could have and just brought me stuff and I ate it, since trying to choose what sounded good was impossible since nothing sounded good. But sugar free popsicles and sugar free Jello were the best things I found I could eat. They had a lot of flavor and went down easily. Avoid tv commericals (I forward thru all them, pretty much still do) as they will drive you crazy. I was prepared physically for the surgery but there was no way I could be prepared for the mourning over food I could not have and everything else. I thought I was prepared but when it hits combined with the hormones from surgery it is overwhelming. Just go with it, understand that it gets better. Try to focus on the positive and what you will be able to eat in a couple weeks and not what you might not ever be able to eat again, because otherwise it gets bad. (at least for me it was hard, but over it mostly now) Sip your Water when you can (finally I now can drink normal size swallows, which sure helps staying hydrated) and you will be fine. I always had a water bottle next to me or in my hand. Ice water is the best in my opinion, but each person handles temp differently. I did not get my relatively normal energy back until after 3 weeks and at almost 7 weeks post-op I feel pretty normal (or as normal as I get). I went back to work at 2 weeks, but I was always tired, but it was doable. Best of luck on the surgery. keep us posted. Sorry post was so long.

It is also really good if you add some low fat light coolwhip and some canned fruit. The kids love it too, so something you can make for the whole family and feels like a dessert yet is very healthy.

best of luck! keep us posted

My fitness pal. Will do all that for you and a number of our buddies on that app too

Size 10/12 which is what I was when I got married.

My hubby likes it when we go out to eat because he knows I will have lunch for the next 2 days at least- very cost effective if you think about if

Both are so beautiful! I wish I looked that good after my 6 weeks! Anyone else worried that after they lose the weight that you'll not be good looking and still made fun of for that too? I know it sounds stupid but it's something I worry about- I don't need to be beautiful I just want to be normal looking enough to not cause comment!! Stupid worry huh??

Yes I've had a couple bites with no negative results. Just keep it to a couple of bites and enjoy it

Beautiful! You got looking good fast post op! Great weight loss there

Another week of losing 3 pounds then gain back a pound and then stall. In the past month I've lost only 10 pounds. At 6 weeks posts and experiencing a stall every other week, very frustrating! Weight week before surgery 261 Surgery date 6/7 weight 250 Last week 222.8 Today weight 221 Loss of 1.8

Congrats

Wow what a nice set of pictures you guys looked great before and you look great now! Pretty people!'

Congrats! Looking good there... must feel nice to get those numbers

Best of luck, keep us posted!