scarlet333

I agree with the other posters about following doctors orders even if he has not had problems with stuck issues. The stomach is still healing. The first few weeks the Protein and Water goals were just that goals. My doctor said I should not force anything and just try to get closer and closer toward the goals as the days passed. One of the things I ate or drank was cream of chicken or pea Soup which both have protein and are easy to digest. I would stay away from potatoes that was not on my diet until further out and you don't want to start in with the carbs. Also good was 1% cottage cheese, greek yogurt, unjury chicken soup, turkey chili.

The nights are a tough time for me too. I am a night owl and stay up quite late and find myself snacking too much. One of the things I am trying is to drink an EAS Protein shake which is just 100 calories and 17 grams of protein. I find that this sometimes hits the spot.

You don't have to drink Protein shakes at this point. Especially since they are not filling to you. Instead get at least 60 gram of protein through chewing food this will fill you up. Dense protein like chicken, tuna, lean pork chops, lean cuts of beef, turkey, shrimp etc. This is one thing my surgeon recommends is that once you get past soft foods, most of your nutrition should be from foods you chew not drink or even soft foods. This will make you feel fuller longer. I was eating alot of greek yogurt, cottage cheese, Protein drinks and that is what he recommended to me. Also remember the rule about not drinking 45 minutes before or after your food this will help with restriction. Lastly, if you don't already start tracking all you eat in my fitness pal. Best of luck.

Can you listen to your music with this too? If so it sounds perfect.

I did it! I just finished the c25k app. It is still very very challenging me to just run for the 30 minutes so i think i am going to stay at the 30 minutes for awhile - at least until it doesn't feel like i am going to die and then add a minute every week. Still can't believe it. While I am running I am saying to myself -you are a 48 year old overweight woman who has never run in her life- who are you kidding to run for 3 miles-- but I just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Then its over and I am in the last minute and I get a SxxT-eating grin on my face.

That is so wonderful. It is amazing how we were hurting ourselves carrying around all that excess weight. I am looking forward to my next annual check-up to find out how my numbers have changes since last year. Thank you for posting this.

Well today I went to just try on some jeans at White House Black Market. This was one of those stores I would have never gone into before my weight loss. I am at a size 10 in jeans which is just unbelievable to me. So I go in the fitting room with a pair of size 10 jeans and lo and behold they were too big. The salesperson go me a size 8 and they fit fine (not even tight). This is beyond my goals when I thought about this surgery. I didn't buy them since they were like $70 or $80 but to know I am a size 8. I can't stop smiling.

Congratulations! You are an inspiration and it brought tears to my eyes to hear how emotional it was for you. Life can be so great. Enjoy you deserve it.

All of the things you've mentioned are ways of telling you lost weight. It is very common to be the last to notice it in yourself. I also found that other people didn't mention it until I has lost about 50 pounds then all of a sudden everyone noticed. Just keep on keeping on and eventually it will become your new normal. I weigh myself weekly and can almost always tell if there is going to be a loss by the way "i feel". Your mind will catch up with your body and in the mean time just enjoy all of the nsvs you have mentioned and more.

Congratulations. You look so happy and you deserve to. Enjoy the cruise and take plenty of pictures of you.

Stayed the same this week -145.2. I'll get 'em next week.

The calories burned on the eliptical sounds pretty close to mine. Also level of resistance is a factor. A tip I picked up at the gym is to mix in pedaling backwards it uses differernt muscles and for me is more challenging.

I agree that my fitness pal overestimates. The elliptical I use requires you to input your age and weight before you start so I think it is somewhat accurate. For 1 hour and approximately 6.2 miles I get approximatel 584 calories. Is this close to your number? I do think the old adage of calories in and calories out is still somewhat accurate although other things can impact it such as Water retention, any medications you are on, time of the month etc.

Breakfast is either 1% cottage cheese with fruit, plain non fat Greek yogurt with stevia and a piece of fruit, 2 pieces of turkey sausage or bacon with a sunny side up egg or my "treat" once a week is old fashioned oat meal or cream of wheat with cinnamon.

At almost 11 months post op I am getting around 1100 calories per day and meeting my Protein needs. I do exercise almost every day and am very close to my goal although weight loss of course has slowed. I also attribute the slow loss due to the fact that I am close to my "normal" BMI. My surgeon though is very strict and tells me 800 calories to loose weight and 1000 calories to maintain. This is very hard to me but I try to keep the calories low each day. As you get father out it gets harder to do since you are able to eat more.

Just amazing. You look fabulous. I am about a month and a half behind you and thank God I heard of this surgery. It has improved my life in so many ways. Keep up the good work.

I plan to continue adding minutes till I actually get to the 5k. I am probably at about 2.75 miles in the 30 minutes. Then I'll see how I feel about adding more time.

Thanks. I feel quite proud. I have a few friends who downloaded the app but gave up after the first few weeks. I have never jogged/run before and feel pretty good that at my age (48) I could do this and finish it.

From prior experience with c-sections I realized I'd rather have my husband home with me off from work when I was released from the hospital. When I was in the hospital help was just a push button away but at home with the kids off to school that is when I might need help running to the drug store or grocery store or driving me (not allowed to drive for awhile) or helping me in or out of the shower. So he visited with the kids after work and took off a few days when I got home to help.

You look amazing and if not too personal your thighs look like they have never been overweight.

On week 8. The last week of c25k. Once you graduated from the app what did you do continue with 30 minutes and try to improve your time? I don't have a desire to run much more than the 3.2 miles.

I like the Friendship 1% cottage cheese. 1/2 cup is 90 calories and is great with blueberries or strawberries or alone.

You will be fine. I had the drain for about 10 days after surgery and also pinned it to my clothing. I will tell you that I started to feel so much better after the drain was removed. I don't know if it was mind over matter or if it was causing some stomach discomfort. It is not painful to remove just the strangest feeling ever and it is literally over in a flash.

I was exactly like you only told my husband (my kids are still youngish) and there were many reasons I didn't tell them. But it has been amazingly easy and I think I made the right decision for me. I don't feel like I am lying because people usually say things like you look great, how much have you lost, are you doing your own diet or one of the big ones. I can answer these honestly.

I was just discussing this on another thread and it was almost exactly 20% for me which would put me around the 45 pound mark. At 30 pounds my sister said "have you lost some weight" but it wasn't until around 50 pounds before people really began noticing. There are some people (usually those who are jealous) who will never mention it.