Carol P

Glad to hear that everyone has their scale moving in the right direction. I try really hard to not get on the scale! I agree with Janetteh that I've never been able to lose 4 lbs per week my whole life. Even on the medical protein diets of about 700 calories I would lose 2-3 lbs. I'm thrilled with my progress and so glad that I've seen good progress. I'm going to an out of town meeting this week and will see several clients that haven't seen me since December. It will be interesting if they notice. Have a very Happy Easter!

I had H. Pylori too and got the treatment from my Bariatric Surgeon. I think it is best to let the Bariatric surgeon treat these findings since the surgeon ordered the test. That way they don't have to rely on the Primary to make sure the dosage, etc was administered. The finding did delay when I thought I was going to be able to have my surgery for about a month. I was upset and worried about it. After doing some research, it appears that it is very common. My Doctor just asked if I had finished the treatment and I told him yes. He didn't retest and even said that he doesn't test for it anymore as they don't think having H. Pylori makes much of a difference. Some recent studies suggest that the presence of H. pylori in the stomach may be beneficial for some diseases. I was surprised to say the least. I would ask your Doctor if: 1. He is going to retest 2. Does the test have to be negative to go though with surgery I hope this helps and I wish you the best. The good news is the treatment made me a little sick to my stomach and I was able to lose about 15 lbs before surgery because of it.

Thank you for starting this thread HealthyNewMe! I've considered myself unique on this forum as I have 200 lbs. to lose and I'm also in my mid-fifties. If I could turn back the clock I would. The other day cleaning my desk I found a calendar from 1990 and I weighed 290. I thought if I could turn back time I should have had the surgery then and what a different life I would have had for those last 25 years but the fantastic news is I'm taking control of my life now! I'm glad to see that you have had super success and I'm sure you will be the "Belle of the Ball" at your elementary school reunion.

It seems like we are all at that stage where foods some foods can be unpredictable! It can all depend on the time of day, how much did you drink before, how fast you eat, how big of bites you take, how juicy is the food and on and on and on. It is hard to figure it all out. I have a handful of go to foods that I am pretty confident will stay down so I can eat those when I’m traveling or out and about. For me it has been Beans, chili, crab cakes, yogurt, cheese, Protein shakes and most Soups. Sometimes after I eat I feel like I can’t move or I’ll throw up so I just sit for about 30 minutes and I’m usually fine after that. I am still afraid of trying a salad but made up my mind to have one tonight or this weekend when I can be home in case there are adverse effects. I enjoy this forum and appreciate Kim R for starting it. It is good to compare notes with others at the same stage in our journey.

Nothing is wrong with you at all! I felt exactly the same way! My scale froze for three weeks! I had lost 10 lbs my first week but NOTHING week 2, 3 and 4! I even gained two pounds. I was eating soft foods, and Protein as prescribed and about 500 calories a day. You need to trust the process and trust your doctor. The scale is just feedback. I know I've always lost weight slowly and that is one reason I always gave up on diets before. I would sacrifice and have 1 or 2 pounds to show for it. I'm at week 7 post-op and the scale still moves very, very slowly, but it is moving down! That is what is most important and incredible. Keep the faith! This does work!

I decided early on that having weight loss surgery was nothing to be ashamed about. I have told almost everyone I come into contact with! Don't get me wrong, I don't tell waiters, but almost everyone at work knows, my family knows and almost all my friends know. I figured they would notice by my weight loss and I didn’t want to have to make up stories about why I was eating differently, not enjoying a cocktail or losing weight and looking marvelous! About 95% of the people I told were very supportive. Their genuine concern for my health and caring attitude was helpful. The more people I told the easier it got. As for the other 5%, I found that it was more of an education process. I have a skinny sister-in-law who works out constantly and thought I should just get a personal trainer and not take such a drastic step. I also had another friend who started sending me links to all sorts of cockamamie ideas like shakes, creams, exercises and magic Vitamins to lose weight. I responded by sending them links with success stories of people that have had WLS. I’m glad I shared the information as it helped expand my support network and now I have lots of cheerleaders rooting for me.