ziggypbang

Very pleased to report I do have more energy! I think my energy levels were noticeably higher by the 3 month post-op mark. Like pat fitz above, I do exercise, and I certainly attribute much of the energy boost to the exercise. I can feel the effects of not exercising if I skip more than 2 days. I feel myself getting annoyed and impatient more quickly when I don't do something physical. I'm not an exercise-lover by nature, other than riding my bike or doing yard work, which I enjoyed even when I was heavier. But I'm a devotee to the 30 minute express circuit at Planet Fitness, which I do 2-3 times per week, and I also do a jogging-in-place/marching in place routine with hand weights in front of the television several times a week. I just make sure I find a good series on Netflix that I haven't seen before, and only allow myself to watch it if I'm exercising! Exercising was definitely tough post-op, but I can now lift a lot more than I could pre-op, which I'm proud of. I'm dreaming of sculpting sexy shoulders!!!

You are only two days out! This is amazing for you! This is the last total crap diet you will ever have to face alone, without your sleeve to help! Believe me, post op can have different kinds of challenges, but there was nothing more challenging for me than pre-op, in terms of my head continuing its wicked, whiny little snot-nosed cry to "feed me!" Your next phase will be a wild success!

Salty stuff for sure! My husband is eating those Hanover's Cheddar Cheese pretzel pieces right now and I'd kinda like to lick one! But we ate at Cheesecake Factory tonight and I ate my fave Jamaican Black Pepper shrimp and it was a glorious meal! And I have several days worth of leftovers, so yea me!!

Just realized today that the weight on my driver's license is correct for the first time in 30 years! Hee hee!

I used to like a lot of variety in my meals and Snacks, but now that I'm eating very little, I'm perfectly happy with no variety at all. I've cooked the same meal 3 times in the past week, and happily eaten leftovers at almost every dinner and lunch. I'm a pretty decent cook, so my current meal is curried brussels sprouts, which I'm eating with Turkish-style chicken adana (kinda like gyros-flavored chicken burgers), and tzatziki sauce of course. So I've been eating the same meal for lunch and dinner every day for a week, along with the same 2 Protein shakes, and I just have no desire to change. My husband is so patient! But he is taking me out for a dinner date tomorrow night!

I'm so glad I got a gym routine down pre-op. It really made getting back to the gym eadier afterwards, even if only to walk. My biggest mistakes, which i made both before and after surgery, was not anticipating how my tastes would change. I bought too much of various protein flavors and now I have protein I cant tolerate. Who'd have guessed i'd hate chocolate post-op?

Totally agree with PdxMan on the "faking it" in a restaurant after being sleeved. Friends only caught me once, but I wanted to tell them the truth anyway. You won't get caught unless you want to get caught. Here's the thing about eating out: it's all about the company, and the food is truly secondary. I NEVER suspected this truth prior to surgery! Now I look forward to eating out just as much as I used to, but I definitely am more interested in the atmosphere, service and company than before. My husband and I often share large meals anyway, and we love to try appetizers as well, so I think it's almost impossible to tell that I've only had a few bites of my food. Plus, you always get to take home the excess food in a box, and I often enjoy meals 2 or 3 times after eating out. My surgery was in November and the scars are fading very nicely. The only one that took a full month to heal was the main incision where they remove the remnant stomach. It's only an inch wide, but I was definitely aware of sensitivity and mild discomfort at that site for weeks afterwards. Coughing was very rough for the first week - I tried my best to avoid it, even tho I developed a mild sinus infection after being in the hospital. Very common for me, tho!

I'm sorry about your loss, but you are in excellent company! I really started to notice the loss at 2 months. No clumps, but it was thin to begin with. There are 2 freckles showing through the top of my scalp, and I'm rocking a comb-over to hide them. Yikes! On the positive ride, people are too entranced with my cute butt to notice!:-) hee hee!

Congratulations!! Way to keep up the good fight despite that nasty scale not cooperating! I'm in a massive stall myself, so I appreciate the encouragement your words bring! Best wishes!! You will succeed!

I used the Protein shots initially for a few weeks, but I wish I had purchased less of them. I probably wouldn't consider them if I was to do it all over again. They are EXTREMELY sweet (think double-strength Jell-O), and they don't help you with your Fluid intake, which is really important.

Hello friend, I've had SO much less reflux since my sleeve. In fact, I can't remember a single instance of reflux. I didn't get it regularly before, other than when I was pregnant, but I did get it a couple times a month. That seems now to be a thing of the past. My gut tells me I would have gone for the RNY had I been diabetic, or had a lot more weight to lose than I did. I think 100 pounds on a sleeve is totally do-able for me, and no malabsorption or dumping issues. I am very happy with my decision, and yes, I love my sleeve! Best wishes!!!

Beautiful is probably correct about the 'can you eat just one?' Question. This is key. If you can you're clearly not going to hurt yourself, but for most of us it's a very slippery slope. I had a tough day with off-PLAN FOODS yesterday. Today I'm back on plan and I feel 1000% better mentally and physically.

Hello friend! I'm sorry you are struggling! I found the months of pre-OP preparation extremely uncomfortable emotionally, which I'm guessing must be the same for you? My partner at work, who is a health care provider like me, actually gained 10 pounds the 2 months prior to her surgery. She's been wildly successful since her sleeve, tho. You may be in for a question or two about the weight gain, but you can just be honest and tell them what has been stressing you out. Once you get that surgery date, the stress of waiting for approval will be behind you and you can focus on the future with great encouragement! And truly, once you have the sleeve on your side, you can spend more time focusing on healthy, non-food ways to soothe yourself when times get tough. You'll even have the energy to work out, which is awesome for mind as well as body strength! Blessings to you!

H

First, apologies for the double post. I watched my close friend over the past 14 months, following her fantastically successful vsg, transform her wardrobe along with her body. But I couldn't understand why all her new clothes featured Belts, of all things! Wide, sparkly, contrasting colored belts! Whaahh? Now I get it! Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, I wear now must be the opposite of what I wore before. Everything that suited my old body (boxy, shapeless,black or dark colored with maybe a few jewel-toned accents) I now think of as ‘orange,' because they were like my prison garb. And now I'm free, baby, and there is no more 'orange' for me! I love fitted clothes, almost to the point of being tight! I am wearing almost an entirely ivory, sand or pale grey wardrobe because they were colors I never felt comfortable wearing before! And I've gone belt crazy, along with shoe, handbag and jewelry crazy. Does anyone else out there think 'no way!' when they are shopping and see fashions that they would have worn in their pre-wls life?

Mrs. RRn, you are a class act!! Way to think about your situation with patience & wisdom before responding! There is so much fear and ignorance out there. We are much better off if we educate folks and give them a chance to understand. I used to think wls was cheating, too. When one of my friends at work had great success with the vsg, I started to do my own research and realized that it was an amazing opportunity for me to succeed where I'd failed for so long. We were all ignorant once upon a time!

No way could I have held myself back from asking the obvious! You have way more self control than I! Maybe the next time you see her (she'll be even thinner next time, of course!) you could ask her what program she's following. She's probably dying to talk with you about it, too! I have to say I love to talk about my great experience with my sleeve, especially with folks who have some type of connection to it...

I, too, am SO happy I made this commitment! It's radical, yes, but I am much much better me for it! Blessings on your decision. I wish I had done it sooner.

Hey Shellbelle, Great question! I used to do curves and loved it. I switched to planet Fitness because the hours were better and cost lower, plus they have a 30 minute express workout that reminds me of curves. I think curves felt safer to me tho, with more encouragement from the women there. You really cant go wrong! Personally, I'd skip the treadmill, buy some light handweights, and just dance or march in front of your TV (be as goofy as you want,no one is looking!). I watched every episode of White Collar and Drop Dead Diva with this method, and enjoyed it so much! Just costs for the Netflix subscription. You should be able to do Curves at about 4 weeks post op,although you might need to wait a little longer on abdominals. Best wishes!

Just received notification that my Anthem insurance through Fedex has approved my Insure Nutrition prescription and I will be receiving the shakes this week! I decided to try the Optisource Caramel flavor - crossing my fingers it works for me! I wish I could stomach Premier but no such luck - maybe I tried it too soon after surgery, but it just seems really sweet to me. I will probably doctor up the caramel shakes a bit if they don't taste as blissful as what I'm currently drinking: a combination of 10 oz Water, 1/2 scoop of Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold vanilla ice cream flavor, plus 1 teaspoon of decaf instant coffee, 2 T of Walden Farms caramel syrup, and 1/2 of a RTD Atkins Cafe Caramel shake. After mixing I microwave for 2 minutes. Tastes almost like Starbucks to me! If I splurged for Starbucks Via instant, it would probably be heaven on earth...mmmm.... The Atkins adds incredible creaminess due to higher fat content, so I always try to stick to a 1/2 bottle.

I think you shouldn't beat yourself up too much about one rough day! Sometimes I need an extra laughing cow or a little piece of good quality chocolate, too! Just don't eat to quickly or you'll be in a world of pain! I went overboard on Belgian beef stew last month and the results were wicked ugly! :-) sometimes we just need a little treat! I did read a great article on this site today about emotioral eating. I don't know if what you're feeling is physical or emotional, but we all eat emotionally from time to time. The article is under the WLS magazine articles down to the right. I appreciated it because I loveaffirmations, but never thought to use them st appropriate times. Best wishes to you!

Don't worry. I'm still struggling with nausea at 4 months, but it's much better than it was originally. I never actually vomited, and I much prefer the slight nausea to the bottomless pit I had pre op! The first two weeks on soft food were super tough, nausea wise. It wont stay this rough, truly! Best wishes!

Carlotta makes a good point about triggering your sweet tooth. I have found that my 'domino' foods, the ones I struggle to eat in the correct proportions or that trigger certain cravings, are unique to me. So while SF and fat free are generally good, just watch everything to see how your body responds. Best wishes!!

I heat up my bed for 20 minutes before lying down now, or the shock is too much to bear! I also sleep under a down comforter, which would kill most husbands, but fortunately my guy weighs 140 pounds and grew up in the Caribbean. Yes me! So you are in great company!!

I am so sorry for what you went through!! How unbelievable! I cant imagine some taking money when you were knocking on the gates of heaven! That place needs to NEVER HAVE another bariatric patient cross their threshold! Blessings to you as you recover and put this nightmare behind you!