desertmom

Let me tell you I absolutely didnt expect to have problems with the band and suffered greatly for quite a few years.I really expected issues with the sleeve and have had none what so ever.I recover slower than others and just took that in my stride,gave myself more time to heal and get use to it all. I am lazy and only exercise twice a week (play squash) and yet,unlike with the band I am losing weight anyway because I am just eating a little.(will start exercising soon) You will be fine.The sleeve does what we thought the band would do. xxo

Since being back on the blood pressure meds I dropped 5 pounds....jippeee,and the bounced back one pound.I've also been having an uncomfortable pain in my kidney area and tonight when I got on the scale at 23:00,yes I know I shouldnt do that at all ever, I am up another 1,5 pounds.Did the keto stick and my goodness,I am in deeeeeep purple ketosis for the first time ever in my life. A few things might be causing this.It is now up in the 100 degrees (and over) every day and very humid.I have been struggling a bit with the water intake but not too bad.So I might be dehydrated a little.However I dont look or feel it. Then it might be that I am high on proteins.I have found these nifty little chicken breasts (frozen with a lemon and herb sauce) and that has been my main food for the past 2 days.2 of them weighs 80 grams and I have 22g of protein and I have had 6 of them yesterday and today.Breakfast,lunch and supper.Add to that about 5g protein for milk in my tea and a little in the veggies (2 tiny pieces of broccoli and half of a very small yellow squash that comes from SA and is low cal and low carb) Say it was a total of 75g for the day.The carbs was about 50 as I had a teaspoonof hummus,milk and veggies and a SF popcicle as well. If the pain persist tomorrow I will phone the BP dr. However,I have realized that I will have to start exercising pronto.As in today.To be sure that I do the right things and to not drive myself crazy all the time second guessing weather I am doing the right things,am I eating to much (I know with my head this is not possible) but my emosions tells me differently. How I hate the way the scale freaks me out.the only way I know to control this is to back to dieting the way I know well.I didnt want to obsess with food tracking,low carbing but I will have to.I also believe I should now start making hay while the sun still shines and lose as fast as I possibly can,and believe me,I have put in no effort what so ever until today.It was just lovely for it to just happen but I cannot take this out of control feeling any longer. 1.I will start by just doing walk away the pounds or some dvd here at home.I will play squash twice a week. Next week I will start going to the gym. The thing is for the first time ever I am so self concious when at the gym.I just am not motivated to expose myself to all the thin people...lol.(and we have a ladies only gym at the club as well) So,this is me for today.Crazy,obessed over weight gain that is not real and petrified because I might fail. Tomorrow will be the positive,new me....lol I have read some of my friends blogs and it is all so upbeat and positive and it seems that I am the only one with this crazy roller coaster emotions...or I am just an external prosessor that talks about it.And maybe I have to start fake it until I make it and not express myself the way I do.Maybe I will pretend that everything is just perfect and maybe it will become just that. xxo

The truthis I know I should not weigh every day.And if I had listened to myself then I would not have weighed again today after yesterday's great loss. Well,up a pound this morning and I am sure it will be down again some time later. Lesson,weigh in once a week only.....sure I will do this...lol Second thing.I struggle with having no addictions left so tonight I decided to eat some crisps.Measured 30 grams,1 spoon of hummus and settled down to eat it.Well,of course I ate to fast but after 15g I was stuffed and called my daughter to save me by taking it away...and now I am sitting here with a super stuffed feeling that I didnt know was possible and cannot understand how it happened with so little. Ok,dont know if I will learn a lesson in this but I will think twice about eating this again.

The surgeon stopped my blood pressure meds the day of surgery.I take my BP every day with a meter that I thought was accurate.Well,let me tell you.It is not.I had a 24 hour BP meter and the BP is high.Had to start back on meds.At the moment at half the dosage than before.Will see if this is enough. This is a comination pill and I suppose the diuretic in it has done its work.I have lost 5 pounds in the last 2 days. Man,I will have to find a different way to roxk the weight boat every week.Mind you,I have also cut my carbs way,way back and have been eating chicken (trying to do food protein of 80g every day) almost 3 times a day.Tomorrow I will do fish..lol.When the weight stalls again I will have a high carb eat what you want day and then I will cut them way back again. I really plan on starting the exercise in a little more formal way tomorrow.Walk away the pounds from Leslie Samsone sounds like a great place to begin. xxo

Somehow I struggle to get motivated to do exercise.So I do what I can at the moment.We played an hour of squash an I still love this more than any other exercise.

254 today!

I hope you can sort the problem out. Just one thing.I was still "under the weather" until 4 weeks post op.Started feeling a little better week 5 and at week 6 I was a okay.Started feeling normal and doing normal things.A lot slower than others but hey,how do you speed up healing? Be nice to yourself and rest a lot. And I know this might not feel helpful to you now,but just hang in there ok? xxo

hi I would love to hear more experienced sleevers opinion on the following. Today I visited my physician for monthly vit D injection as I am always low. We discussed the calorie issue.I told him I make around 800 as a rule and he said it doesnt have to be like that.He said if you look at the fast weight loss you will see it only ever happens directly after the surgery.That after that it average out to about 3 and sometimes 4 pounds a week.Normal people on 1500 calories with exercise should and does often lose 3 pounds a week CONSISTENTLY,in his opinion. He wants me to up my calories to at least 1000, and I am not exercising regularly due to a hip issue.I play squash twice a week though.He says as I exercise more he would want me to eat at least 1200 calories per day.I must drink a shake of at least 50g of protein which will allow me to eat more veggies for fibre with more protein. What do you think about this?It does make sense in a way even though it is contradictory to what most other dr's say.My surgeon doesnt give guidelines with calories.Just to eat protein first then veg then carbs and to eat 3 meals and 2 snacks. I am 5'8 and weighs 256. Please help. xxo

Why were you back in hospital for another week? Xxo

Must confess I feel the same.Now that I am stalling I question weather I will lose weight at all.I feel that I am already failing and that I will just always be fat and ugly but without a full stomach. This thing about fake it until you make it sounds great to me and this is going to be my motto from this moment. I will get thin and the quality of my life will be much better. xxo

my weight is still stuck.I have played 2 super hard games of squash this week and,nothing!Before this surgery I would have dropped a couple of pounds at least. My house mate (teeny tiny little thing with about 7kg's to lose) is losing weight faster than me at the moment.Scary really!

Hi I was sleeved March 13 an have lost 31.The weight loss has been crazy slow since the initial loss after surgery...quite frustrating!

how great is it to say it was just another day!Nothing eventful or upsetting happened.I stuck to my food plan,played a tough game of squash (got whipped today) cooked my kids dinner and enjoyed their company. Now I just hope the scale will start moving again.Stuck at 116.5kg's. Oh well,tomorrow maybe!

this is for my own info.When I want to do the stupid again...lol Refined carbs and sugar makes you feel sick stupid!!!!!! Hehehe. We are celebrating all kinds of things,birthday,the move,the qell....we are just having loads of visitors and last night the lady brought brownies. So tonight I decided that a little bite of a brownie and a few crisps will not kill me....but I forgot how sick I feel when I eat stuff like this.I can not understand or explain the sick feeling bur I feel so aweful.Just sick. so,now I have to get through this and hope I have learnt my lesson.

Today was the day that I realized that I feel as if I can outeT the sleeve.I suppose in reality that is not really possible but I have got a lot of stuff going on that makes me want to eat (now my child wants to stay here in Dubai and finish uni and I just dont think it is the right thing to do,but she is grown up,what can I do) The plan is from tomorrow I have to log everything I eat.Fitday.com is a program that I like...I find myfitnesspal difficult.So,it is me and y compulsion to eat life better,to eat stress away that is getting tested so early in this weight loss process. The fact that I am so aware of the want to eat is good.I look at the brownies and walk away.I look at the cookies and decide tomorrow.Maybe this is a good thing to have to flex the portion muscle before the portion size gets bigger a few years from now.

Today we went back to playing squash.I actually whipped the ladies I played with and couldnt walk the rest of the day..lol The stomach feels a little better.Still sensitive but not aching like yesterday...I know it is getting better.Am eating quite carefully at the moment.

As I cannot comment while on the Ipad (dont know why) I thought to write about it. I honestly hope it is not my galbladder.Before my sugery I decided that as I am so scared of surgery,I will have my galbladder out at the same time as sleeve.When I went fo galbladder sonar I told the radiologist to find a stone...just even a 2mm stone pleaseeeeee!He said he would.He spend such a long time doing an xray and doing a sonar and searching for something wrong with my galladder.then they did a functional galbladder test where you have to go and eat high fat food,wait half hour and then do test for when the galbladder start working....well mine took almost 2 hours before it started and yet he didnt think it was delayed.Just slow but normal.No stones.the surgeon came to look an said hey dont like taking out such healthy organs.At That I backed off...he said 60 persent stays healthy only 40 persent gets removed...I asked him what if I am one of the 40% and he said but what if you are one of the 60%. I am not planning on another sugery before I leave this country.I only have 3 months left of end of year issues at school,gymnastics competitions for my daughter and a trip to the USA to see where we are moving as i've never been there...and a Month holiday in South Africa to see my folks...moving from one country to another takes some planning and dont need the stress of surgery as well.(and as it is the company has complicated issues with the possibility of a move to the UK instead of the US but we think living in America will be nicer) So no,it is not my galbladder.I have gastritis or something that will clear up tomorrow after I have played squash for the first time after sugery....lol.I am on super soft to mushy foods to help the stomach recover. xxo

This is something I have been experiencing as well,at least for the first month.It kept on feeling that by the time I had my knife and fork ready to eat I was full.And my head freaked out about this all the time.My family says even today,it has changed me..in the beginning I was angry but now I am sad.I dont feel sad but they say every time we eat they can see I am sad..lol Then I decided to eat little bit of everything and be happy with even 1 bites of something I consider as nice.eg.one teaspoon of brown rice,a little sweet potato cant think of more examples now...but everything I make my family I have a taste of..ok not everything but I can if I want to.I just needed the choice.I do not do well on very very low carb so I do eat at least 50 carbs a day...and now my weight is going down very steadily and I feel a lot better about life. Hang in there,it gets a lot better when you are a little further out and you can eat a little more. xxo

Hi,I am on 40mg nexium and I always had an issue in the morning until I started breaking the 40mg into 2 and drinking half in the evening and half in the morning. Hope you can manage this soon. Xxo

I am not sure what is going on with me but I am getting slightly concerned.Since yesterday morning I've been having the craziest stomach ache.No idea what is causing it.I also have this pain high in my back behind my stomach.My tummy is rumbling like crazy the whole time and I am just generally feeling weird. This should really go away now....

Its my birthday today and I decided to buy food from a place called limetree.They make the most delicious salads and quiche and of course,carrot cake.I bought 2 salads and 2 slices of quiche for 4 of us and I had a tiny bit of each...or thought I would have. Since this morning i have had a tummy ache like I have gastritis. (know what it feels like as I had it often while I had the band).I had a few bites and fed the rest of my food to my 11 year old that came back from camp today and was starving.Then I cut the 2 slices of cake in half and for myself half of half....and it made me feel so sick. Had a nice long bath afterwards and then at about 22:00 I decided that it is m birthday and I am allowed to eat..got myself a little tiny 100 calorie packet of sweet chilli ryvitas,minis, and low and behold,at about 5 and have been spitting it out ever since.Just like with the band the food just seems to pop back into my mouth..I dont vomit and the food is really clean just as it was when I swallowed it. I have realized once again that I cannot at his point eat just to eat...even if it is my birthday.Food have to be more functional and the protein thing is something I will have to get right. Sweet stuff makes me feel horrible and i seems nothing tastes as nice as before the surgery. Maybe if I try to get a bit more serious about exercise I will feel a bit more serious about the adaptations I have had to make around food.I am just struggling a bit with the very small portion size...like I've said before,just when I get ready to eat I am full. Ok,this day is over and maybe my tummy feels better tomorrow.

Such a lot has happened this week.My sister and her new husband came for a visit from SA and helped me get into eating small portions of real solid food. This is great as I was in a serious stall and had zero energy before.Now I have added fiber to my diet and let me tell you it makes the world of difference.Low carb just dont do it for me.I get so constipated I want to die.Add 25g of all bran fiber and Bob's your uncle...dont need laxative anymore. I also did a bit of REAL EMOTIONAL EATING 2 days ago. We have just been promoted....TO THE USA.this is still a strange and super scary concept as we have always lived in very international societies and we are not sure WHAT peoples reaction to our VERY,VERY blended family will be in ........NEW JERSEY! The eating the day we heard was crazy.will write about what we can really eat it we wanted to tonight. Then,one more thing and I dont know if I've mentioned it.a few days after surgery I started having hot flushes like mad....will write about that later

So we are having our first international visitors and have been going out to lunch and dinner every day since Monday.They leave on sunday again.I havent found it too difficult once I made the choice to just survive this week.I still have the pain in my abdomen and back all the time and I have some acid issues and this crazy throat that just feels so hairy/fluffy and is driving me crazy.I had zero energy all week and I look like a ghost with these dark circles around my eyes....that is until tonight. We had a big BBQ cook out here at our house tonight.There were crisps,biltong (dried meat) and hummus and mutabal.I had a few crisps and few tiny pieces of biltong.Then I had taste of red wine and then I had 1.5oz o fillt steak n 1/5 of a baby potato,just a bite really.Just relaxed without overdoing it but enjoying every moment of it. I am shocked to see how easy the crisps goes down...I wont be eating that again.Th guilt wanted to overwhelm me afterward but then I realized that I am normal and I ate very little when all is said an done.I am petrified of the scales however! Maybe this will be the night that I sleep well....I really need a good nights rest. xxo

ok,today is the first day that I feel a little lost in this journey. I have had a hairy furry feeling with a white coating in the back of my throat since surgery.It doesnt go away.I have been on daktarin gel and on mycostatin and it doesnt help which makes me think it is not thrush. How do I get rid of this feeling?I want to gag and am constantly busy trying to fix this issue.It is the most aweful feeling I have ever had and I regret having this surgery if only for this.I wish I could just feel normal again.If this horrible feeling goes away I feel I will have my life back. Help!

Hi Even though I am only a month out and I am still struggling a lot and still have 97 pounds to lose,I also wish I did it years ago when I wanted to go to dr Himpens in 2003 to have the sleeve instead of of the band.At that time it was a brand new procedure and everyone I spoke to about it said I was crazy....I should have been brave then..o well,never too late and now my new life has begun. xxo