beachgurl84

lmsao (s=smaller)

I think you have the same mind set that a lot of us have. That is, don't waste food! I've had a huge struggle with throwing away leftovers because I know they won't get eaten. I give some of the healthier stuff to my dogs. I had a dog put down before because of diabetes from being overweight so I try to keep my dogs healthy and not let them have junk. To do that, sometimes I just have to throw stuff away and fight with my brain to acknowledge that it's OK. You could have thrown the pastries away. I'm not disagreeing with you or saying you did wrong, just pointing out another option. And I realize you weren't even asking for advice or opinions but I think it's an important topic that we all have to address at some point. It's ok to throw it away. It doesn't have to be eaten by someone. My husband is pushing this as well because he doesn't want to be stuck in the position of gaining weight because he eats my leftovers. He has never been over weight and doesn't want to start now. Otherwise, I got a good chuckle out of your story. Good Luck!

I definitely have carbs throughout the day, but I try to limit them. If I had the choice between an extra bite of chicken and a bite of mashed potatoes, I'm going for the chicken. You can't avoid carbs entirely. I do notice my weight drops faster and I stay less hungry when I manage to eat less than 50 a day. But I'm also still doing Protein shakes (I really should stop soon) so it's easier for me to get the protein without the carbs.

@@LitlBird Something brought you far enough to consider surgery so it's absolutely justified. I didn't have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or anything else. I do have sleep apnea that's cause more from ENT issues than being overweight. Yet, I knew if I didn't make a change, I was bound to end up with one of those issues. I wanted to act instead of react to anything that might happen because I was over weight. So, think about what brought you this far, and consider what will happen if you don't make a change. That doesn't mean you need surgery, but it does mean the 120 pounds that may not be affecting you now, will eventually impact your life.

I'm happy to know I'm not the only one wondering if the surgery actually happened?!? You're exactly right! It's not that nice satisfying, full feeling I got before surgery. It's more of a pressure in my chest. Weird. I have yet to actually feel "full" in my stomach.

Unfortunately I have yet to find anything my stomach does not like. I haven't had one moment of nausea since leaving the hospital I know that might sound like a dream to those that can hardly keep anything down but it makes the journey much harder. Oh well, I'll be stronger for it in the end. That being said, I think everybody has been right so far, cause it's going to be different for each of us. I never knew (or thought about it really) that about toast not swelling, I'll have to keep it in mind. As for biscuits, I wouldn't waste my stomach space. I had some beef stew last night and out of sheer craving dipped a piece of BBQ bread in the broth and ate a couple bites. Immediately regretted it because I didn't have room for my meat and therefore lost Protein. Paid for it this morning when the scale didn't budge. You'll find you have to learn to break the habit of justifying food just as much as the habit of eating without reason. I justified that bread because I wanted it using the excuse that I have been working my a** off in the gym. Now I have to work on getting my mind to understand that I'm working my a** off for a result, not extra allowances! Good Luck, sorry for the rambling.

What are you getting carb wise compared to your Protein intake? You could reach over 50 carbs alone with oatmeal and bananas. The NUTs usually tell us (at least mine did) not to worry about counting calories (as if) or carbs. For the most part I don't, and I'm down over 60 pounds since surgery. But I do notice when I get more than 50 or so carbs I'm hungrier more. Mostly cause I'm using that stomach space for the carbs instead of protein. You could try upping your protein throughout the day and reducing the carbs, maybe that will help. Other than that, I'm not a big fan of tracking every piece of food I put in my mouth. I know everybody is different, that's just me. I just try to stock my house and my office with low calorie stuff, and always reach for the protein first. I'm probably getting 800ish calories a day if I had to guess. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I've started spending more time in the gym lately so I'm having to force myself to increase calories sometimes. Good Luck!

if you're at week 6 and this is your first stall, you're doing better than most. Keep with your program and the scale will start moving again. My first stall lasted 10 days at week 3. My 2nd stall at 6 weeks lasted 2 weeks. If it goes past that, try changing calorie intake (could go up or down), increase Protein, and possibly add more exercise if you're cleared for that. And definitely talk to your doc or NUT if you get the chance. This is just your body's way of getting a feel for the new regime. If you stick with it, the scale will move again. Good luck, I know it can be frustrating and aggravating and even depressing. You'll get through it.

What kind of Iron supplements are you taking? I was anemic before surgery and I'm certainly anemic now. I can't take standard iron supplements because I can't get enough calcium to help it be absorbed. Per my doc's recommendations I take VitronC. A bit pricey but it's absorbed easier and doesn't cause constipation. Other than that, as mentioned above, you can definitely include iron rich foods like spinach in your smoothies. It sounds like your body isn't absorbing the iron you're taking in. Talk to your NUT & doc about this. There are right and wrong ways to take iron supplements, maybe you need to change things up.

I'm fighting with myself these days. I'm being good, not grazing, Protein first, fluids, etc. But I'm struggling with whenever I eat real food, especially food I like, I eat till I'm full (slowly, chewing, no drinking, all the right things), and then I feel guilty. In my head I KNOW I only ate like 3 oz of food and that's not a lot. But my belly is telling me I'M FULL I'M FULL and my head does a nose dive into guilt world because I put too much food in my stomach. I didn't really eat too much, I just start freaking out and worrying that I'm ruining my stomach. So, I know I'm doing everything right and I'm steadily losing weight. I just hate that every time I eat I feel guilty afterwards. Did any of you go through this? I'm 8 weeks out from surgery and down 56 lbs. How long did it take you to stop thinking this way?

Ask your doctor. I took a box with me and showed my doc, he said they were fine to take and they did help.

It's what got most of us here in the first place. You want to eat because it's been awhile since you've eaten, or you are sad, or you are tired, or you are craving something, or someone else is eating it, or any number of things besides the actual physical hunger your body uses to signal it's the right time to eat. I hear a lot of people mention before surgery they were always starving and that's why they were overweight. I'm not saying they weren't, but I know from my own experience, i didn't go hungry a day in my life. You know why? Cause I gave into head hunger. I ate all the time. I could say I was hungry and that's why I ate and it was because my stomach was too big. That would be a lie. I ate because I enjoyed eating and that's why my stomach was too big. It's not some handicap we all have, having a stomach that's too large, that we have to eat all the time. No, the problem is we eat all the time and it makes our stomach too large. That's head hunger.

I washed all my jeans the other night hoping they would fit better. Nope. Good thing I'm wearing cute panties, the day might not end without my pants literally falling off.

Hi Everyone, Just curious, when did everyone start considering it might be time to try on a new clothing size? I've lost 50 pounds and I knew my clothes were getting baggy, but my jeans (same jeans I wore before surgery) are driving me crazy with how baggy they are today. I haven't paid attention to my measurements too much so I don't know how much smaller I actually am. I know everyone is going to be different, but I'm curious how much weight you lost or how much time passed after surgery before you thought it was time to try a new size?

I misspoke in my first post about it. It's not brain damage, it's neurological damage. Other than what my doctor told me, I typed in a few different things in Google and came up with articles related to many different variations of it. A lot of it had to do with your body being in ketosis and various enzymes that are needed to break down the alcohol and sugar. The main danger I think, if I understood correctly, had to do with the things your body needs to break down alcohol that your liver doesn't get to. This had to do with a lot of factors like glucose levels, muscle mass, ketosis, your own hormone levels, etc. So for people like us, in the very early stages of weight loss where we are losing extreme amounts of weight quickly, we are at a higher risk. My doc told me I was an even higher risk than most because by my 6 week checkup, I had lost around 35 pounds already. Above average I think. So the further you get from surgery, or the slower you lose, the less risk you're taking. Of course this is all unrelated to whether alcohol actually affects your weight loss. From what I've heard from others that have drank after surgery, it definitely slows the loss. On top of the worries my doc put in me about alcohol, I gave up smoking to have my surgery. I'm almost 6 months nicotine free. I wouldn't go back for the world. Not to overeating and not to smoking. So I'm a little worried about drinking again. I don't want to give up both of those bad habits to take on another one. OH! That's another thing! When searching around for different things related to alcohol and weight loss surgery, those that have had the surgery are like 40% or some crazy high number at a higher risk of becoming an alcoholic. I didn't look into the whys of that one but i bet it has a lot to do with psychological factors, like trading one habit for another. So, I really don't think there is some super high risk of everyone that has had weight loss surgery developing issues from alcohol. Probably the same risk we all have from second hand smoke, or drinking sodas, or smog. They're all unhealthy, but something's going to kill us any way, might as well keep living till it does.

Are his stats available online? I was able to look at a profile of my surgeon on the hospital website and see how long he's been practicing, his fellowships, etc. If you can't see that online, you might want to ask a few questions about his history. Other things might include 1) What does he(she?) feel is an ideal weight for you. Most docs will tell you the BMI charts don't fit everyone so he might have a different number in mind. 2) How long will he keep you in the hospital. My cousin had it done in one state and as a standard practice they only kept her one night, my hospital's standard practice was two nights and it made a world of difference. 3) What kind of test does he require in addition to insurance requirements. You may have already gotten this info from other sources. I know a lot of my questions were answered by the PA so by the time I met with the surgeon it was all confirmation instead of Q&A. Good luck to you!

@@aclinton16 I completely agree we should follow our doctor's orders. I for one would certainly hold my doctor's opinion above that of others. However, perhaps next time you might consider including more information than an example about two alcoholic friends when calling someone wrong. I don't think I'm right or wrong. I merely gave the info my doctor provided. I really enjoy this forum and I highly value the insight and opinions of everyone here. I don't think it's acceptable to single someone out and say they are wrong solely based on what you think because you have friends that drink too much. Perhaps that's not what you meant to say, perhaps it is.

@@aclinton16 You obviously missed my second post about this subject. BTW - Which medical school did you graduate from? Obviously you did since you are implying what you think is the answer to all. I only imparted what my doctor's office told me. We all think to each his own, but to say you think it has nothing to do with brain damage is misleading unless you have a medical license. If you take a moment to research some academic articles on the internet instead of posting what you think with nothing to back it up, you will find numerous studies performed that do indicate alcohol can lead to neurological damage based on so many factors for each individual. Their own tolerance, calorie intake, ketosis, glucose levels, muscle mass, liver mass, it goes on and on. So it's not damn wonder it effects people differently. So as I said before, to each his own but it's not worth the risk to me. But don't worry, we'll all sleep better tonight knowing you think brain damage won't happen.

It sounds like your son hasn't done his research. If he had, he would know the risks of being overweight, far outweigh the risks of the surgery. Not only that, a c-section or gallbladder removal has a higher mortality rate than the VSG surgery. You made this decision based on your research and the path you have taken in life to get to this point. Consider all that you've gone through before letting anyone (including us) tell you what you should do. I hope you go through with the sleeve because I know from my own personal experience it's worth it. I was terrified the day of surgery and miserable for two days after. But every day got better. And now I'm down 50 pounds. My husband didn't want me to have the surgery. He kept telling me he loved me just the way I was. BUT, he also told me even though he was perfectly happy with me, he knew I wasn't happy. And he wanted me to do whatever I needed to do to make that happen. He supported me the whole way with unconditional love and understanding. He even cried as they wheeled me back to surgery. It sounds like your son is afraid of you becoming a different person. And you will. You will become a vibrant, healthy person with an entire new outlook on life. If he was just afraid of the physical aspects, proper research would have relieved him of that. Please don't take this as insulting towards your son, but don't let his ignorance keep you from doing what's right for you. If you're going to decide not to do the surgery, do it for the right reasons. You'll regret it of you don't. I think it's great you have family to turn to for support, but just because they mean well, doesn't mean they have your best interest at heart. Best of luck to you

I agree. Before surgery I avoided anything that might indicate my weight. I think that's one reason I'm so adamant about weighing daily now, it keeps me honest.

Did your doctor warn you against carbon? Some say it can stretch your stomach, others say it won't. Not worth the risk in my opinion but you also have to be careful about carbs. Beer is loaded with carbs.

Congrats on taking the first steps towards a new you! It's definitely not the easy way out but you have all of us supporting you along the way.

Sounds like everyone is doing great! And looks like I'm following in the same pattern. I'm about 54 down this morning and as soon as I find the time, I'll be heading to goodwill.

I chose the sleeve because it kind of freaks me out to think about intestines being re-routed and changing the way God made us. I mean getting part of you removed is one thing, but the bypass changes the original lay out. The band involves way too much maintenance and I bet the lack of wide spread results will eventually get it phased out. I know it works really well for some people, but I wouldn't have been one of those people. And again, it freaks me out to think about a foreign object being planted in my body. Of course now I have staples in my body, lol. That's just my two cents on it.

The ONLY person that can determine how often you should weigh yourself is YOU. Everyone is different. Just like everyone will lose weight at different rates, everyone uses the information from the scale in different ways. I personally weigh every day. I also keep a spreadsheet that I enter my daily weight on. I have it set to calculate the following: Today's Date Max weight lost Lowest weight to date Projected to Reach Onederland Average daily weight loss Average daily weight loss last 30 days Average Weekly Weight Loss Average Monthly Weight Loss Days since surgery Weeks since surgery Weight lost since surgery Total weight lost Current Weight I'm a dork when it comes to spreadsheets. I use this information as motivation to keep making the right choices. I see the results when I don't. Yes it bums me out when I weight more one day than I did before. But that makes me work harder. And it reaffirms my decisions when I see my weight go down. If I aim to get my average weight loss up, I am affecting my whole journey, not just the next days weight. But again, that's just me. If you want to see your weight every day, then weight yourself every day. If you think it will depress you to see the scale fluctuate on a daily basis, then you should probably wait a few days. I would suggest you keep a routine. Either every day, or on the same day every week, or the same date every month. That's the best way to actually track weight lost. Make sure you wear the same thing every time you weigh and do it at the same time of day. Doesn't matter if you wear clothes or not. You're tracking the amount lost, so as long as you're wearing the same thing, you'll get the same results. Best of luck to you! Remember, we are all on a journey and no two people will have the same experience.