Forsythia

Spinach, or salad if you can tolerate leafy greens. Those things fast track right through ya. Quest bars have lots of fiber in them if you are into Protein bars.

I had to get my HgA1C down below 8 before my surgery (my hospital will not do surgery on you if your diabetes is not well controlled). At the time I started at my hospital, it was over 9%. By the time my pre op testing rolled around several months later, I got it down to 6.1% You can start slowly - just walk 10 minutes a day. Then after a week add in 10 more minutes a day. Doesn't have to be super fast. If you have access to a treadmill you can just walk 1.5 or 2 miles per hour - whatever pace is comfortable since you have bad joints. In regard to food - use myfitnesspal.com to log what you are eating. Maybe invest in a food scale to monitor portions. Even if you aren't eating the healthiest things, it is kind of eye opening to find out how small a serving size of something is. But by all means, don't try all these things at once. You'll just get frustrated and overwhelmed. Try one or two suggestions at first. Get comfortable with them, then incorporate more changes into your life.

I need photographic proof of the adorable crankiness of this hedgehog. HEDGEHOG! HEDGEHOG! HEDGEHOG!

My pre-op diet was really ... Atkinsesque. High Protein, low carb, but not liquid. I took this as an invitation to eat lots and lots of delicious meats. Steak. chicken. Bacon. But mostly steak. Then, the night before no food after midnight. I lost weight on this meaty diet. From 312 to 294.

I was 335 at my heaviest and 312 when I started my surgeon's program. Was 294 on the day of the surgery. We're the same height, but I also had Type II diabetes and borderline blood pressure. I chose the sleeve because I was not interested in the plumbing reroute and malabsorption. My surgeon has a lot of people who are really heavy do a sleeve then revises them to a RNY, but I have no intention of doing that. I'm still a work in progress since I was sleeved in May. Double check with your insurance if both surgeries are covered. I had it in my mind I wanted a sleeve but needed to make sure it was covered. Sometimes since it is newer, it is not covered.

Exercise is difficult if you do not enjoy it. For me walking on a treadmill is always kind of a slog and not enjoyable (and honestly I'm not an outdoorsy nature person so walking outside isn't any more motivating or fun for me). So I had to find something more likeable. I love swimming and have decided to incorporate it into my routine two days a week. So maybe you like Zumba because you like to dance or step aerobics because you like the variation Or maybe the treadmill is your thing because you can zone out. But the key is to try as many things as you can in order to find something you look forward to doing. Also, hello @@DevilDog! Pleased to meet you!

The thing is that everyone thinks because this is elective that it is their business to make a judgement. But these people don't know your personal history, or how many times you have tried to lose weight or anything. People are jerks. But shake the haters off. Your body, your decision, your life.

I feel your pain. I told my mother and she told her sister who told my cousin. The next thing I know is that my cousin is congratulating me on my lap band during one of our games of Words with Friends. I was salty. I didn't have a lap band! And it was not my Mom's business to tell my private medical decision to her sister. So now I know that the entire maternal side of the family knows because once you tell my aunt, the information is out there. Ugh.

I'm weird and I buy new gym clothes since I spend so much time in the gym. Right now I'm thinking I need to reward myself with a bigger backpack since I drag so much stuff to and from it. LOL!

I spend a lot of time at the gym - up to two hours after work. By the time I get home it's practically time for me to go to bed. And when I am at home on the weekends, video games. I personally am a fan of the Assassin's Creed series and will play for hours. Hands occupied. And then there are always chores - laundry, cleaning, errands. Really though, the appeal of food as a balm is just not there like it used to be.

You want to have your protein AFTER you work out. That way you can drink/eat it and it will go to all those muscles you have worked and depleted. Try to have your protein no more than 30 to 45 minutes after. I've taken to carrying a Quest bar in my back pack so I can take a bite or two while I am waiting for the bus post gym.

Really? I did not know that!! That is really good to know!! Thanks for letting me know cause I have been avoiding all kinds if foods because of high carbs. So you take fiber grams and subtract them from the carb grams and what is high for an "active" carb number?? : ) I am only 3 months post op and still learning all of this stuff. I haven't seen a nutritionalist since pre op!! Really? I have to see my nutritionist every three months! I have to see her again in September, Saw her in June. My surgeon's program is rigorous. LOL.

Honestly I found it to be freeing that I could have a plate of food in front of me and physically not eat it all. I can eat most of a Lean Cuisine for lunch, but I have no issues tossing it into the trash since I can't finish it. Before I would have eaten the whole thing and licked the plastic container clean, then have a snack or two afterwards. Now that is just not going to happen and it is a relief that I can't.

Good news! Today I finally braved the pool at the gym. It was fine. All my fears were assuaged. There were older ladies, younger swimmers, big people, little people. I ordered a new lap swimsuit, goggles and swim cap to use at the pool. Bad news! The lap suit was shipped separately and will not arrive until Monday. Good news! I have a Lands' End swimsuit that has been sitting in my closet since my honeymoon in 2011. Bad news! It is way too big now. It is a 26W It's baggy in the ass and way huge in the boobs. Every time I made it to the end of the pool I had to do a well being check on the girls to make sure they were not waving hi to the boys in the whirlpool. The new Speedo lap suit I ordered is a 22W (I'm an 18/20 up top and would say I'm between 22 and 24 on the bottom now, so I split the difference thinking that going a bit smaller than my hips - my biggest part - would last me a bit longer) Good news! The goggles and swim cap are great. The swim cap is lyrca instead of silicon, so it doesn't snag on my hair. Good news! This has reaffirmed that I love to be in the pool and love to swim. Bad news! I suck. All that cardio I do did not prepare me for how physically difficult swimming is. Good news! Every day I do it, I will get better. Now, no more good news bad news.. Just news. I've decided I am ready to bump it up to 5 days a week at the gym. Two of those days will be an hour in the pool. The other three will be my regular two hours of cardio/weights. So now, instead of Sunday Tuesday Thursday Saturday, I will add in Friday, since the gym is dead on Fridays. I do not need to watch Say Yes to the Dress (It's a guilty pleasure. I love weddings! LOL and wedding dresses and read bridal magazines even though I'm already married. Ha ha ha!). I'm thinking that Sunday and Friday will be swimming, Tuesday Thursday and Saturday will be cardio/weights. I will start this tomorrow. So even though I went swimming today, this was more of a test run than anything. I've decided to work on some Labor Day goals. My current weight is 255. I want to be 235 by labor day. That's ambitious, I know. My fitness goal is to be able to swim an entire lap doing the freestyle without stopping in the middle of the pool. It might not be fast, but in high school I could swim a lap without stopping. And I was roughly the same size back then. Yes, it was almost 20 years ago though. LOL.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I do kettle bell swings too. @Scarlett333, I used to do the Firm videos back in the day, and one of the tapes was all mat work. Only now I no longer have my ankle weights. Gosh that makes me feel old. Ha!

@@Ginger Snaps I have super muscley calves. They have always been quite well defined for the size of my body - there is very little fat on my legs from the knee down. I was once told by a guy "Man you have some roped calves". That is totally the compliment a girl wants to hear (I think he was impressed that they were so well defined). LOL. So generally I do not do things like calf raises because I need no more definition in those things. I go to a gym btw - LA Fitness, so I have all the machines, free weights, barbells and dumb bells. @@SandyM I ride a stationary bike as part of my cardio routine. Usually for a half an hour. I suppose I could ramp up the resistance!

lunch meats like shaved ham, or turkey and cheese sticks were nice. I did a lot of lunch meats. Yogurt. I never used to like Greek Yogurt but I eat lots of it now. I'm not big on things like eggs or cottage cheese but I know lots of people who are good with them too. I never had issues with Pasta or rice but I try to limit both of them, even whole wheat or brown rice varietals. I'm kind of picky, LOL!

Six weeks for weights, one week for any kind of low impact cardio ( treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike etc).

Howdy friends! I need some ideas for lower body exercise. I have crap knees (as I am sure a lot of us do from the excess weight). Right now I do three sets of squats with 30 lb dumbbells, three sets of deadlifts (the straight leg varietal) with a 30lb barbell and three sets of leg press on the leg press machine with 100 lbs. Lunges really bother my knees and I do not do them. I also have bad balance and tend to teeter about like I'm half drunk when I attempt them. I am looking for something new to incorporate in my training as these are the only lower body things I am doing. I feel like I am getting much more variety in my upper body because nothing up there hurts like my knees do! Also I will say I have recently upped my weight on these so I feel the ones I am doing (like today I can feel every muscle in my thighs, hamstrings and quads). But variety is the spice o' life, right??

Was there any reason they gave you to start pureed as soon as possible? I'm curious if there is a scientific reason for it I didn't ask! Those were just the rules they gave me, and like a good little minion I followed. Hasn't seemed to deter my weight loss. And my hospital is a Bariatric Center of Excellence, so they must be doing something correctly!

It will get better, Vanessa, Anesthesia messes with your taste receptors. Once it works its way out of you system things will become more appealing.

I was instructed to be on purees as soon as I got home from the hospital (she said he could do liquids for one or two more days if needed, but I was eager to try food). And then I was only on them for a little over a week before I was progressed to soft solids. Purees are the worst. Anyhow, after that I was on soft solids for a good month then progressed back to normal diet mid last month.

My official start weight at the beginning of the program according to my hospital was 311. My higest weight was 335. I went into surgery at 294. Came out and was 306 due to the fluids! Right now I'm 256 at 2.5 months out.

I try to eat at least 1000 calories on days I lift weights. And I am in the weight room for about an hour. I am in the weight room about four days a week. I do about an hour of cardio on those days too. This seems to work for me. Since I've upped my calories on gym days I have had pretty steady weight loss each week.

I was on liquids for two days both were when I was in the hospital. The surgical nurse said I could stay on liquids for another day or two, but to go to purees as soon as possible. So I was basically on purees from the day I came home from the hospital until my first post op visit (5 days out) then was okayed for soft foods. I was on soft foods for a little over a month until the nutritioinist vist last month. I'm now on general diet.