Forsythia

@@Karen Scott It might help if you take a pillow and stick it under your tummy when you sleep on your side. I also noticed a sharp pain in my tummy for the first couple of weeks. Like the food would slide down and hit a nerve or something. But one day that just stopped. Now I have to look for other cues like belching or hiccups telling me I've hit my upper limit.

This thread makes me sad. People who loved you really called you guys such mean names? . For the record, my nickname was Annie. My real name is Andrea. I had this giant home made orphan Annie doll my mom made for me and I would carry it around everywhere. Used to wear the felt mary jane shoes until my feet got too big for them. Occasionally my brother and my cousins will still call me Annie.

I'm definitely not a vet but I can eat whatever I want. I have a steak at a restaurant. I eat half of it or 1/3 of it, and order a healthy side like the steamed veggies or sauteed spinach or something. I box the rest up for lunch the next day. I don't have issues with any food anymore. Can eat bread, Pasta, sweets, etc. But I choose not to. The appeal is just not there anymore like it used to be. When I was 300 lbs, food was comforting and a soother, but I don't need it like that anymore. And It's kind of bizarre how things I would crave before don't even cause me to bat an eye now.

Keep in mind your stomach is going to be swollen and angry at you for cutting most of it off for awhile. Still, 4 months later and I find that 3 oz of dense Protein is my max. I can however, pack in more carby things like potatoes. So I try my best to avoid super carby foods because before you know it you have eaten all the chips, ya know? And mindless grazing and emotional eating is what got me to 335 lbs and diabetes. @@wjcunni2000 Are you logging all your foods in a place like MyFitnessPal? You can look at all your macros and make sure you are getting enough protein, Vitamins and keeping your carbs low. Sometimes carbs can slow down weight loss, as can not getting enough vitamins and whatnot. I'm not militantly against carbs, but some people here find they are sensitive to them and do better with a really strict reign on their carb intake.

So my Labor Day goal of 235.. I am at 239. Not bad. 235 was pretty ambitious. So 239 is excellent progress. In my four months post sleeve, I have averaged 18.75 lbs lost per month (obvi, the first month was was higher, like 30 lbs, but still..). I am completely in love with the overall consistency of my weight loss. I've had stalls and ups and downs, but my stalls all seem to be hormonally driven due to my period and water retention. I have to really work at getting all my water in, otherwise my body retains. I've done really good at not falling into emotional eating. That is what I would do. Or boredom eating. Snacks while watching Game of Thrones. Getting cookies from the vending machines after a stressful call at work. Speaking of work, I put my two weeks notice in. Customer Service is not for me. I never did like it, and there is nowhere else I can go at this company that isn't a technical position. My husband is all stressed about the potential loss of income, but this change is necessary. I cannot allow myself to be miserable doing a job I hate that does nothing but bring me down (for an income that barely pays my bills by the way). I probably would have quit if I had not had surgery, but I might have languished until next year when I had more PTO to use. But there is no time like the present. I've spent 3.5 years being miserable at this job. I'm not sorry I put in my notice at all.

I have coffee all the time. I throw a scoop of Protein powder into it and add a wee bit of creamer and ice and make it an iced coffee. Keeps me regular, and since I tend to retain Water keeps me from bloating up. I do not count it toward my water goal though. Water goal is separate.

I lose hair every day. But so far its just been typical normal hair loss. Some people say they lose clumps and get noticeably thinner. I've not had this issue. I'm 4 months out. I will say that since my hair is curly, if I let it go curly I lose more than if it flat iron it to within an inch of its life. I think because when it is curly the hairs clump together as opposed to just falling out when straight.

Hahahahahahaha. I like you.

Why would you not be able to have yams or pumpkin pie? Just have a wee tiny slice of pumpkin pie after thanksgiving dinner and you'll be fine.

I came home from the hospital and went to purees straight away. I was on them for five days. Then was on soft solids for a month. I've lost 75 lbs so far post op and almost 100 from my high of 335. I do go to the gym 4 to 5 days after work though. Spending up to an hour doing cardio and 45 minutes doing weights, or swimming or taking a class, depending on my mood. It is hard. Because some days I am so emotionally exhausted from my job. But I have to. That's my me time. You are not going to lose weight every day. There are going to be days or weeks where you stall out. I basically can write the entire week after my period off because I retain Water and gain. Some times the scale will go down then up then down again.

Yes, you have unrealistic expectations.

I also try to keep a 40/30/30 ratio for protein/carbs/fat. Don't always succeed though. I was told by my NUT to be eating between 800 and 1200 calories per day. I go to the lower end on non workout days, the higher end on workout days. I try to work out 4 to 5 days a week (again, that 5 days doesn't always happen because life gets in the way sometimes. LOL!). I Swim for 45 minutes or so twice a week, do cardio/ heavy weights twice a week and take one class called body works plus abs (which amounts to a fast and light weights) class once a week.

Slow and heavy. Fast and light weight training does have its place though. But I agree with @WhoKnows. As soon as you can lift heavy, do so. I get bored doing cardio and weights though. Not gonna lie. This is why I swim twice a week, take a fast and light class at the gym once a week and do heavy weights and cardio twice a week. This keeps me sane.

Oh, funny story. My 6th grade teacher's husband is Hal Higdon. But that was in 1988 - 1989!

I always have a shake or a bar. On a good day I can get 50 grams with food alone.

No more diabeetus medications. My sugar levels always hover around 90 now. Before I went through the program they were out of control on two different medications. Being able to shop at the normal stores instead of the plus sized stores or online only. It's so nice to pick up a shirt in a store and try it on. Being able to complete the Body Works plus Abs class at my gym. I'm not the thinnest person in it but I can do the entire thing!

Thanks for coming back to update us! Don't beat yourself up too much, you've only been home a little over a week! Just try to drink as much Water as you can and let yourself heal!

I had a 12 day stall around 3 weeks out. It sucked. I just kept plugging away at the treadmill and eating on program and I unstalled. It was like the heavens opened up and angels sang. It'll pass.

I have a couch to 5k app on my phone and I keep looking at it and think "nope" and "is a zombie apocalypse imminent?" So you are one step ahead of me there, girl. But the thing is, you finished the program. So you are a runner Be proud of that!

Have you tried things like turkey or ham lunch meat? What about cheeses? I liked to make little lunch meat and cheese roll ups for a quick high Protein meal. You need to focus on protein, so avoid bread and rice, Pasta.. You might also try Beans as they have protein. Refried beans, baked beans, Etc. You might also try yogurt - either Greek or regular. I like Greek because it has higher protein (interestingly I HATED it before my surgery, I felt it was too thick and the texture bothered me, but now it's good). You can also try to see if ground meat bothers you - turkey or chicken or pork meatballs.. You sound like one of the people whose smell and taste buds got more sensitive post surgery. I hear that that is temporary and will go away as time progresses.

I would have loved to only picked up 3 lbs. I gained 12 lbs of fluids in the hospital. Literally overnight I dropped 7 of it though. The first few weeks are usually pretty rapid. Then you might slow down and/or stall out for a bit, but that is the body adjusting. The losses will pick up again once the body adjusts.

Oddly, I was never big on buffets. I want my food cooked to order. LOL. God only knows how long the food has been sitting out on the buffet. No really, there are lots of topics with questions I think are basic knowledge. And lots that have been asked before. It's the nature of the beast that is the internet. Sometimes I don't feel the need to answer the same question over and over again. Rather than be an ass about it, I just click out of the topic.

I still wear a size 9. I've lost almost 100 lbs! My feet are haters. LOL! My feet were a size 8.5 from puberty onward, then went up to a 9 in my 20s.

I never really had big boobs. I would say that even when I was over 300 lbs my boobs were on the small/medium size for my frame. I was a D before. I'd guess I'm a small C/large B now. Bra band is down to a 40 or 42 depending on the cut/shape/brand of bra.

Still holding steady at 240. I'm confident I can get into the 230's before Monday though.