Forsythia

They won't let you use a tampon. They supply you with pads. They made sure to tell me all about it, but I specifically scheduled my surgery between periods.

Liquid in liquid out. Honestly once you are on solids your poop will solidify. You might go the opposite direction and be constipated. If you are concerned about getting dehydrated, drink something like Gatorade or pedialyte to keep your electrolyte balance up.

My pre op diet was essentially Atkins phase one. No liquid at all. Just lots of protein. My surgeon is attached to a bariatric center of excellence. I lost 18 lbs on it. So follow his instructions, it works for him and will work for you as intended.

Try maybe mass gainer shakes which have more calories along with the high protein? I mean you could graze all day but I'm assuming you want to put this on in a healthy way. Cut back on cardio and focus on lifting to gain muscle. I'm not an expert by any means. I'm still actively losing. But I'm a big proponent of lifting.

I went to Mexico on my honeymoon. It was in November 2011. We turned in the paperwork in June of that year. Got them maybe two weeks later. I was surprised at how fast the turn around was. Are you driving or flying? We flew, and I think we had to have a passport to fly in.

Good luck to you all. I got sleeved on cinco de mayo. So instead of having a margarita and chips and salsa I had my sleeve!

I was encouraged to walk the first week after surgery, but to limit things like steps. I live on the 3rd floor of a walk up, so there is no avoiding them. LOL. but after 5 days the nutritionist cleared me for general cardio - no weights for six weeks. So I mixed it up. Treadmill. Elliptical. Bike. I worked my way up to faster speeds and more time on the equipment. Started off slowlt - 3 x per week. Then when I was cleared for weights I started lifting 2x per week (one of those days is a class). I also swam at least once a week (I haven't swam in awhile, my bathing suit is too big again. LOL). I've lost over 100 lbs - I still have 75 more to go. I know that a lot of it flew off in the first few weeks, and I honestly feel that the working out sped it up. I also feel that it just generally sets you up for good habits in the future. I do know that if I do choose to have something bad, that I can go to the gym and burn it off.

The list is in my head. Sometimes if I am making something special I will write them down either in my phone's sticky note program or on paper, but most of the time I buy the same stuff every week. Yogurt, chicken breasts, fruits and veggies. coffee, milk, eggs. cheese. Maybe I'm kinda boring?

Hardly anything makes me sick. I can eat cookies and sweets and garbage with no issues. It's all mental now. You probably aren't going to stretch your sleeve. It's still healing and swelling will continue to go down. So you will be able to eat more as the swelling lessens. But the really stretchy part is gone. It's the mental stuff you need to work on. If you have access to a psych consider talking your fears out with him or her. There are also a lot of books you can consult for help.

You'll drop that easy peasy.

I was on purees (including yogurt) as soon as I was home from the hospital. I was in the hospital for two days.

I am leaning toward not counting them either. Thanks for the comment.

Tonight I made a lovely dinner - beef short ribs in a red wine reduction. About 30 minutes later, I got sick. I guess the tannins in the wine did not agree with me (I've no issues with white wine). Anyhow, since my delicious dinner is sadly no longer with me, do I count the calories? Kind of an odd question I know, but this has never happened to me before! And the dinner was so good too. *sigh* :-(

I got a super cute skirt the other day from New York & Co. I still feel kind of like I am gonna get kicked out of the straight sized clothing stores.

Sadly, I still wear an 8.5 or 9. My calves are now 15 inches instead of 16, and my ankles have gone from 9 to 8 inches. I have flat feet. So I'm not sure they will get any skinnier. Even when I hit my goal weight, I doubt my arches will come back!

Are you walking? I was advised to walk immediately upon leaving the hospital. The doctors wouldn't even let me leave until I took six walks around the hospital wing each day. After a week I was cleared for general cardio (treadmill, bike, elliptical). After 6 weeks I was cleared to swim and lift weights. So if you feel like it you can't go wrong walking. But in terms of lifting, you should wait the six weeks to make sure all your incisions are good. I feel you on feeling fine. I felt pretty normal after about a week, but sucked it up and bided my time.

I did not have a pre-op liquid diet. No one who uses my hospital has one (and I was a type II Diabetic pre-op. Since my surgery my Diabetes is basically gone). The pre-op diet I had to follow was high Protein, low carb. I lost 18 lbs on it (I was 312.. went into the hospital 294). Skinless chicken, lean pork, turkey and beef are all pretty much carb free. If the goal is to keep your carb count down, having a chicken breast and steamed broccoli for dinner will be fine. I'm not gonna advocate you go against your plan or anything. You should check with your nutritionist and see what he or she says. It's tough when you are used to eating 2000 or more calories a day to go down to 1200 on a liquid diet.

Awesomesauce.

My gym has so many spin classes. It's insane. It's gotta work since it's super popular, right? It also has a crap ton of zumba as well.

I hate going without a bra. Some people are cool with the girls hanging free. I am not so I brought a convertible bra so I could unhook the strap and get it on over my IV lines. I wore a pair of leggings and and oversized sweater home.

I was diabetic pre sleeve. Full on type two diabetes. I am no longer. The sleeve works well on reversing diabetes too. Well, type two. Can't help with type one. All the other reasons why I chose the sleeve were covered by everyone else. But I wanted to let you know it worked on my diabetes just as well as a bypass would have without the intestinal reroute.

Soy milk?

A 1x is a 14/16W, so a 0x would be a 12W on the standard plus size scale. Torrid carries a 12W. Land's End also carries a 0x. In women's sizes I'm a 1x. But in misses sizes I'm an XL, which is a 16/18. I'd rather wear the 16/18 misses than the 14/16W.

I can't believe I've never posted a picture of my Sheba Marie. She is the best kitty ever. Also, the second picture is a bonus picture of Chewie, my parent's dog. I love that beast. LOL

The dudebros in the weight area are no more intimidating that those super fit joggers on the treadmills. You just need to change your mindset and realize that they are not focused on you at all. Having said that, if freeweights are intimidating, start off with the machines. The hardcore dudebros generally do not use the life fitness or matrix machines. You can start with them. You'll get a better workout with freeweights, but we all need to start off slowly. As for a trainer. Was the trainer you hired just a bad trainer or was it just a freak occurrence that you got injured? You need to lay out your desires clearly with a personal trainer. Let them know your goals, your limitations (so if you have bad knees and lunges cause pain, you need to tell them that). Remember that this trainer works for you - you are paying them. So if you cannot do explosive plyometric moves because of a bum ankle, tell him.