Forsythia

I think about food all the time. But its more in a diagnostic sort of way " Does this have enough Protein?" "How many carbs are in this?" "Is this going to raise my blood sugar?" I still get hungry, but not ravenously OMG I MUST EAT AN ENTIRE pizza OR I WILL DIE hungry. I cooked traditional Sunday dinner this past weekend. Roast beef, green Beans, roasted fingerling potatoes, gravy and bread. Did I fill up a plate and eat all the food? Nope. I took a couple of slices of the beef, a tiny serving of potatoes and a tiny bit of the green beans. I made sure to eat all the meat, but only managed a bite of the potatoes and green beans. Didn't have any bread at all. Despite my husband having seconds and thirds (he has a metabolism stoked by the fires of hell), there were lots of left overs. I took some and made a TV dinner, took some more and made beef croquettes, and the rest is there for my husband to nosh on. Restaurant eating - I eat what I'm going to eat and then I get a to go box. Everything I liked before surgery I can still eat. Some people have issues with some foods being too heavy or tasting different, but I can basically eat all the same stuff, just wee tiny amounts. I would honestly rather have a bite of the cake than a giant 800 calorie slice of it.

I had a catheter. It was fascinating to watch pee go down the tube when I totally didn't feel like I had to pee at all! I had no issues walking with it. It was attached to the base of my IV pole and I just wheeled it down the hall with me. It was uncomfortable to have it removed, but it was only a minute. I was happy to be able to put on underpants though. I'm a lady, damnit.

Throw shade right back. Yelp the hell out of her unprofessionalism.

You guys are doing great.

Oh, some sugar alcohols like malatol can have a bad digestive effect on people. If you ever want a giggle read the reviews on amazon.com for Haribo sugar free gummy bears.

The reason why you can subtract those from the net carb count is because sugar alcohols are low glycemic, much like fiber can also be subtracted. Quest bars are good and have 20 g of Protein. They are high in fiber and low in carbs. Some people say they can trigger them to want candy/cookies etc though because they totally taste like Cookies and apple pie and the like. I like to use bars as a protein boost post workout. Sometimes I have half a bar before my workout since I go to the gym during dinner hour, then the other half after.

I don't dump. I can, in theory, eat all the sugar I want. Dumping is more likely to happen to RNYers. There are sleevers who dump though. Having said that, I was a huge sugar freak pre-sleeve. I did a lot of work mentally to break myself of it. I occasionally have a cookie or something sweet but the need for it is gone now.

I was on a regular diet by 8 weeks out. I would totally have gone on a cruise. I will say I had a decidedly easy recovery and no side effects.

I use myfitnesspal. You can scan the barcode and it will pull in the exact information. You can also do my fitness pal online. MFP is free and for both android and iphones. Once you have an item in your personal database, it will come up in your frequent or recent choices so you can add it again the next day super easily.

@@labwalker I was not referring to your post.

For a second I thought your dog was a bear. I was ready to see a bear in those pictures, I guess. hahahahahahahaha!

I had a 12 day stall 2 weeks out. Most people do stall out shortly after getting sleeved. Follow your doc's recommendations and incorporate as much walking as you can and it will start back up.

You look amazeballs!

Wait wait wait. Is the A1C rule your surgeon's or your Primary doctor's? My surgeon had a cap at 8 for HgA1C. My personal doctor was all for me having the surgery. I did have to work on getting my A1C down, but I did not have to postpone. And if it is just your doctor being a roadblock, have the surgeon refer you to someone who will write your approval letter and be done with it.

Funny thing, I'm 37 and never particularly had a fat face (at least not for a fat girl, LOL!). Now that I've lost a significant amount of weight I notice the neck/chin issue. I would say my face itself does not have wrinkles or any droop, but I just have this neck skin right underneath my chin which is disconcerting. This just might be me being hyper picky since it's my FACE. I make sure it's well moisturized and sunscreened so that it doesn't age due to sun/elemental exposure. I'm hoping that since my face was not that fat to begin with my neck/chin skin will tighten up over time.

You might recall my Labor Day goal that I posted in a blog entry awhile back. That goal was 235. As of this morning, I am 240.5. I think I can do it, kids!!! I originally thought it would be a stretch but it appears to be close at hand. Honestly anything in the 230s will make me pleased as punch. I am going back to Indiana that weekend to see my parents (It is also my Mom's birthday on the 30th) and I know they will be proud of my weight loss. They have not seen me since Memorial Day. That was only a few weeks post surgery, maybe 25 lb lost. Now I'm over 70 lbs lost. My Dad is utterly fascinated by the whole thing. He and I have always struggled with our weight. So he is really happy that I am losing so much and being so successful. He says he is too old to have such a surgery (he's 72, but I think he could do it just fine, we tend to be good healers), so I think he is living vicariously through me. Yesterday I had my belated 3 month visit. Dr. Hungness was so pleased with my progress. He actually seemed quite floored when I told him I am in the gym 5 days a week. I seem him again in three more months - so six months post op. He said they will be doing some labs. We'll find out if my vitamin D level has recovered. Although my nurse practitioner will probably be drawing for my HgA1C sooner than that since she manages my diabetes. She usually tests for Vitamin D and most of the tests he will be looking for. My daily sugar levels continue to be good. In the mornings I used to always be scary high. Now I am consistently between 85 and 110. I had an exercise related NSV while at the gym yesterday. I used to always get pins and needles when I used the elliptical after about 15 minutes. Basically it was like my feet were falling asleep. I used to struggle to do 20 minutes on it - not because I was exhausted, but because the pins and needles were so painful. Yesterday I was on the elliptical for 35 minutes. I realized about 30 minutes in that the pins and needles were not happening at all. So clearly that issue was due to me being over 300 lbs. And, I got this outfit from fabletics.com (my apologies if you cannot see it): http://www.fabletics.com/index.cfm?action=shop.viewproduct&featured_product_location_id=0&product_id=1439782&psrc=my_looks&master_product_id=1439782&original_master_product_id=1439782 I wore the tank to the gym yesterday. It was a little bit exposing. But no one looked at me strangely. No one said I was too fat for it. There was no side eye! I'm just so happy to have more choices in gym wear!

Honestly, I love shopping. Always have. Never had an issue with being addicted to it. I'm not going to spend my rent money on clothes. A girl has to have a place to put those clothes. But I might be an anomaly since I have always loved to shop, even at 300 plus lbs. I will admit it is nicer now, to be able to go into a normal store instead of into the plus size section.

Any time you work out harder or change up your routine you can expect your body to go through an adjustment period where the scale just sits there like a malevolent jerk just mocking you. I would say try tweaking your food intake. Maybe less carbs, or more carbs, or 100 more calories or more water. Not all at once, obvi. Try something like more calories for a week and see if it makes a difference. For me, once I went into beast mode at the gym the calorie boost helped a ton.

There are always pot holes in the road. You might hit a couple now and again. It's up to you to make sure you steer clear of them lest you ruin the alignment on your car, and it seems you are doing just that! Good for you Yeah I went full on with the pot hole analogy.

Yeah, it's most likely Water and temporary. Your body is all "WTF, yo, why are you doing this to me?:" It's kind of whining. It'll get over it. And once it realizes you are not going to stop working out that water weight will go away. Continue to work out and hydrate.

I specifically do not bring up my weight loss unless someone does first. I'm actually a bit uncomfortable talking about it. I've always been outgoing and sassy with a touch of diva, and that hasn't changed. I think because my perception of me hasn't changed even as the scale has gone down, I don't feel that I have changed. There is definitely a bit of body dysmorphia there that needs to be addressed.

I would rather have some loose skin than be on medications for diabetes. Or worse yet lose a foot or go blind. Yeah, I can already see loose skin and I've only lost 70 lbs and have many more to go, but I will take that. It's a reminder of the hell I've put my body through for the last 31 years. Maybe one day I will go to Mexico when I am all said and done losing and have the wings clipped, or maybe not. I don't know...

Awesome

And... we are back to poop. LOL!

@@twinmommiesrock Buona fortuna! (that's all the Italian I know, unless you count the curse words I learned from playing Assassin's Creed)