Dee_1111

I am not going to give any advice here. I did no do it. I tried it, my body said CUT THAT OUT, IM DROWNING OVER HERE!! I'm probably the only one person who told my WLS instructors that, that part just aint gonna happen. I'll drink when I'm thirsty, and ended that discussion. Never been dehydrated. but I drink a lot of other things, coffee, tea's, crystal lite, all day long, just not by the gallons like they recommend. just saying. Lots of people panic on this subject. I truly believe that's to much water for one body to handle. 4 years later I'm still drinking when my body tells me to, I seem to be just fine. but that's me, do what you think is right for you.

I'm 4 years out gastric bypass...this is a RETRAIN YOUR BRAIN activity. It took me literally MONTHS to master this little tiny activity. Same prob in the beginning, we all do. I literally had to sit at my kitchen table in utter silence, and concentrate on CHEWING everything to a pulp..in my case, 15 chews, swallow and wait. Chew, swallow and wait. That's why it takes 30 min. to finish..tedious piece of work it is to. I use to get so frustrated, I had sh*t to do, places to be, calls to make, this activity was the hardest for me. But as in all things difficult, its worth mastering, now its not even a thinking thing, AND when I behave, I get off the table quicker. Hope that helped P.S. There is no quick trick and NO way around the tiny but major activity, master it grasshopper!!

Well this will bore you to death. I'm 4 years out of surgery and 3 yrs in maintenance. Maintenance for me means 'stability'. So to eliminate what your going threw. I eat the same thing every morning..Quaker (the flavored packets) oatmeal, with, all kinds of fruit I love, the fruit does change and flavor packets change, oh and I put ground flax and wheat germ in it to (keeps my pipe work flowing, if ya know what I mean), I figure it cant hurt. And coffee, lots of coffee. BORING! But I don't have to figure out what my am eating plan is anymore..again, BORING!

On my days off I'm not a morning person, so after my (pot of) coffee and breakfast, few chores around the house, I finally make it to my gym. It has always take me a few hours to wake up in the mornings, so AM workouts are out of the question. Im an afternoon workout gal. 2p -4p I'm a swearin' and sweatin' : And my body thanx me for not kickin' its a$$ at 6am..lol

Your getting stronger and braver..don't worry it will soon feel fantastic and empowering. Look forward my girl, look forward.

Thank you all, Jen that why knowledge is power. You will pay it forward when your times comes also. You are in the learning phase. Everything your going threw now, you will pass on to the next 'YOU'. So don't take yourself to seriously. I promise, when you look back, you will roll your eyes, at these disappointments that seem so big and daunting now. Although!!!! try not to keep processed (dead) food near you, its to tempting. You've heard all the experts say to clean out your cabinets and frig, and pre-make your food so that when you get a craving, all you've have is what you made, well I hate to prove them right, but there right, I tried it, got a craving, and nothing but good crap in my frig..I was disgruntled eating that fruit salad, but happy AFTER I finished it, because it could have eaten cheese cake if in were in the frig at the time. Just the other day, I'm in the my kitchen, just a bitchin' about how sick I am of chopping fricken vegetables, making my lunch EVERYDAY, making shakes. Saw my poor husband trying to sneak out the kitchen!!! Hell I wanted to sneak outta the kitchen with him. BELEIVE ME it gets tedious some days. I just wanna go to a drive thru and get a quick bite, anything that I didn't make myself... just so I don't have to stand in the kitch and chop...arrrrrhhhh...so see, even I still have those days!!...lolol

Bad typer..Ms Misty

Who doesn't love Misty!!!..,I think your on your way to being quite successful Ns Misty .ox

Thats what Im talking about I journaled my first year like a craze maniac..now when I read it I have to giggle at (my old) self. Man, I strict on my poor pouch. I think I gave it an apology.. thank goodness I lightened up. I think there were some months were I drown the poor thing trying to get my prescribe water in..now I just drink when Im thirsty. ..sheeez

I guess Im not understanding your question? You had your band removed? Forgive me I am a gastric bypass gal, so 'removing fill' isn't familiar to me? Im assuming you did have it remove if your considering the Sleeve, right? O

Im sooooo trying not to laugh!!!..lololol

A very distinguished gentleman asked my a very important question. Do I keep a food log. Now before I answer that , please let say a few things. I can not stress enough to the Pre-Op's and newly Post-Op's, how important it is to keep a food log!! it is your ACCOUNTABILITY scale. If you don't know how to count calories (I didn't and still don't) keep a log anyway. It will show you just how much or how little of what you are putting into your body each day. Some days will be better than others. Some days will make you see that you need to 'Start Over' and reevaluate what your doing. The Food Log is not to make you feel like a failure or a champion..its there to keep you accountable!! it really works. I do have a calorie count book and I have looked at it numerous times, so I do have an idea of what or how many Cals are in a particular food I eat everyday. Because I weigh 115 lbs, I am allotted a 1,300-1,800 calorie a day intake. Look yours up, the net is full of sites with this info. I know I'm sounding a bit 'High Horse-ish' but it's only because it is such and important part of this journey. Now I'll step down from that Horsey, I have vertigo..To answer the gentleman's question. Because I am 4 years out, I pretty much can see visually what's on my plate, and know that I have 4 oz of meat, 1/2 cup of berries, and 1 cup of vegs. I have been doing it for a long time now. So NO, I do not keep one anymore. But in my head I'm always aware of how many cals might be in a particular food, before I veer off into strange (food) territory. Its the nature of this surgery to be always conscience of the foods around you. Thank you for listening, and Im now firmly on the ground, and have put my High Horse away for the night..AND SCENE!!!

WOOOO HOOOOO MISTY!!!!!!!! now your gettin' it!!!!!! I love when people have EPIPHANY'S...now take that attitude all the way to good health!!!!!!!! God I love this site!!!!!..yayyyyyyy Misty..you go girl!!

lol..its KARMA!!!..quit it..lololol..bad Kata

Hell....Im a crappy typer..lol..but you get the jist

Hello Cherry..My lowest weight was 113, I'm now 115. I don't see to fluctuate much because I am a stickler for what I put into my body. I take this surgery a bit to serious I think. Mostly because ALL processed food makes me sick and dumpy. Bread, Pasta, Rice, Sugar, Dairy, and potatoes give me a instant heavy doey feeling in my stomach. Horrible feeling, Its my pouch that decides what its going to eat, and I listen, basically. I don't push the boundries of my pouch. My feeling is this..My surgery was a God Send. A once in a life time chance for me to get it right this time. What an UNBELIEVABLE gift, don't you think? There is no way in hell I'm missing this train again! My health and family are to important to me, plus I'm sexy as hell now..lol. So to answer your question, my weight is stable because I eat 'mindfully and exercise regularly'. This body feels better than food tastes!! My weight does go up and down on its own, strange as that sounds. 5 lbs up sometimes, 5lbs down. I use to that now. My pouch stretches depending on what I put in it. Seems I can eat platters full of fruits and veg, and don't get sick, just very full. When I have 4 bites of mash potatoes or bread I feel like I'm going to explode. So I think if you eat lots of processes garbage/dead food and sweets, Ice creams, cakes, I think you get the FEELING like its stretching. I think you can train any thing to stretch if you abuse it enough. Very sad state of affairs if you can accomplish that. Why have this surgery if your going abuse all the hard work it takes to be healthy. I never understood that? Addiction I totally understand, I had a sugar one. But all addictions can be cured. Disease's on the other hand are a bit trickier. But I don't remember ever hearing mineless overeating & bad health was a disease? And your last (awesome) question. I am 54, and here's something I this is quite amusing. when I'm in 5 lbs up mode (120lbs) I have my period, its like my body knows, and jumps up 5 lbs, when a week or so later back to 115. When I'm stressed and over tired, or just now up to par, I go down to 110, weird, the body has its own way of coping with what's going on around it. So don't freak out if one morning you wake up and your 6 lbs heavier. Specially if you did nothing to cause it. Its one of the nature of this beast. I don't know if it happens to men. Hope I answer all your question to satisfaction, I have a tendency to babble..lol..thank you so much for the questions. I love questions. take care Cherry

I think you've just described most of us here on this site!!!!..we're with ya honey!..well seeing your going ahead with the surgery, let me say this...you will never regret your choice if you go into it with the full knowledge and understanding that it had RULES. I always tell people who ask me about this surgery, that if you can not follow rules don't have this surgery. There are guidelines and Doctors instructions that must be follow to the letter, and when you deviate from that, is when complication arise. But as you progress in your Journey and you start to feel life flooding back into you body, it is the most unbelievable feeling. My absolute joy came when one by one, each med bottle got thrown away or I no longer need it. That's when I knew this was the right decision for me. I was slowly getting HEALTHY, and so will you, you cant help it, it just happens, its quite amazing,

OH let me just say something about your Eval..Please take this opportunity to totally unload on your Physc..It was the first time in my life that I'd been to a therapist. She explained to me that this was my time to explain to her, why I was sitting in her office, what got me there, and please not to tell her because its mandatory to get the surgery, because she could see right threw that. She didn't want all the right answers. What she wanted was for me to succeed in my Journey, and why she was a necessary evil. I love her. I still call her when ever I need her, even today, 4 years later. So please take advantage of this part of your Journey, its really the most important one. It was hard to look deep inside myself, it was ugly there and I don't want to go there, but she was awesome, and I did look, I cried, yelled, swore, you get the picture. Good times...lol

You go MELMOMMY!!!!

I was almost not going to respond to this post. But I feel for you. I am a mother of 3 grown daughters. All of them have their own homes and families. I would NEVER barge into their homes unannounced. Why? because I respect their lives and trust their judgments. I love the men they love, because I love my children. I don't always like the choices they make concerning the children, but, you know what, I don't have to like it, I just have to respect it. And I do. Advice is hard to give, because every family dynamic is different. But it sounds like you've tried to reason with her, and still, she's not respecting the boundaries. Maybe distance is the answer. Good luck sweetie, this is a tough one for you. The children always suffer the most when family are at odds.

I am very sorry, please forgive me, I had NO idea about you pre-existing condition. My bout with this was only temporary. A side effect from the surgery. I now understand it is much deeper than that. God Bless.

March 1st 2014, I will be 4 years out and living in maintenance. All the trials and tribulations of surgery behind me. Life has settle down and routine has taken over. My yearly visits to my surgeons office are pretty uneventful. My lipids are stable because my vitamin regiment is stable. What I chose to eat is also routine. I don't veer off my food list very often. Boat loads of fruit and veggies, chicken, salmon, etc.. I try not to incorporate different foods in my plan because that seems to be where I get into trouble. I slice and dice, add spice and bake, sauté, crock pot, and broil the same foods just different ways with different spices and flavors. But I found very early on that if I incorporate different cultural foods into my eating plan is where my troubles can begin. for instance, I had to give up (American) Italian food..we all know why..lol. I had to give up most French dishes, we all know why..not that these cultural dishes don't have healthy choices, I just wasn't makin'um. So to eliminate the drama I cause when I veer off, I don't veer much. Food is now a lesser priority then before, is all. When my pouch cries, I first drink water, just to make sure it's not thirsty first, then after that, it still tapping me, I feed it. At this stage I can pretty much tell what my pouch wants, I seldom get thirsty in the mouth anymore, its my pouch thast thirsty, took me a while to recognize the difference. Strange as that sounds it's a fact. My pouch is its own childish entity. At this stage I have also recognize the difference between my brain wanting food and my pouch wanting food. In order to be a successful GBP (Gastric Bypass Person) you have to get to know your body, listen to it, and tell it NO if you have to. I think I'll end this here, I'm a thought blabber..lol..I'm sure I'll be writing more. Its nice to have a place where my babbling might actually help someone..lol..thanx for listening

When I fat, sweating was like a sport..Once I reach about 130 lbs. the big chill was on. Thousand, and thousands of us are now supporting the sweater companies of America..lol..my hands are freezing just cuz there extended over the key board!..Although, I am loving all the beautiful cartigans Im amassing

lol..sounds like you have thing well in hand. That my dear is how you CRACK THE FLOOR of a plateau..lol..I love wine to..rats! we do have to cut down on it though..sad, but true

I don't know if my post got threw..Hi Paige, I'm just down the highway from you in Detroit Lakes..How can I be of assistance. I'm Gastric Bypass 3/1/2010 Surgery was in Fargo, Dr. Garcia was my Surgeon.