4me4them

If I've learned anything on this forum it is that all docs are different! Mine has a lose 5% of your current weight policy...

Awesome post! I may not have the courage to say it but I will certainly think it if I'm ever in that situation...

So I'm still in the supervised diet phase before surgery and I've been doing pretty good (insert back pat here). But MONDAY was a MONDAY all day. I went to work with a long list of things I need to get done before our big accreditation team visit next week. Of course, life had other plans and by 1130 I had done exactly NOTHING on my list. I was stressed to the maximum.... And then it was lunch time. And the 3oz can of tuna, lettuce and low fat dressing just didn't appeal to my emotional side. Now I've eaten this lunch quite happily many many days...but emotional Beth said nope not going to work. Six weeks ago I would have walked across the parking lot...OK, who am I kidding, I would have driven across the parking lot and gone through the drive through of the fast food chain that is there. So I start looking around the office and I found a can of Progresso Light cream of potato soup....so I had it, both servings...200 calories and way more sodium than I consume now but two amazing things happened: 1. The emotional side of me was soothed in a less destructive way 2. I didn't snack on anything rest of the day (except my veggies that I brought from home). Hence the title...Progresso Soup saved my butt. I have now replaced that can and consider it my failsafe for the next MONDAY whenever it comes!

Congrats on your twofer! Hope all continues to go well!

Thanks! I used to eat those back in the day...

Mom and weight relationships are the hardest...I can sympathize AND empathize with you! Hang in there and define your happy weight for yourself. I'm going to experience it first hand...I finish my 3 months supervised diet on Oct 7th....but I'm not having surgery till later in November because my husband and I had a 2 week trip planned in October to go see my folks (73/75) and his folks (78/76). My mom has already started...."Oh I guess that means we wont get a Bonnie Bells cake while you are here" or "you'll have to tell us what to cook while you are here" Or "does that mean you don't want to go to Muriel's (awesome Italian rest). I know that the whole time I'm there every bit will be scrutinized... Sigh...but I love her and like you I couldn't not tell her...good luck and thanks for listening

Thanks so much for sharing! Sounds like you are off to a great start... I hope to be where you are by the new year...

So I love movie theater popcorn...I don't get the butter, but I can put away a really big tub...or I should say I used to put away a really big tub of popcorn. I'm still in my preop, but even so I know that movie theater popcorn is not exactly a health food. We don't go to the movies very often, but I couldn't imagine a movie without popcorn. My office was meeting at the theater today to see Guardians of the Galaxy (totally worth your consideration) and I wanted to go AND I wanted to stay within my calories for the day...so...hubby got a small popcorn (he used to eat big tubs too) and I took a Quest Strawberry Cheesecake protein bar (which I had already budgeted for in my daily menu). I had one handful of popcorn...it tasted good....then was perfectly satisfied with my protein bar...and guess what...I still enjoyed the movie! One bad habit conquered...a bajillion more to go...

Thanks for sharing this victory....it inspires me to get where you are! Keep it up!

Try Junonia.com They are a little more expensive than Lane Bryant but their stuff really lasts. I've had a swimsuit of theirs for years, I like their compression shorts...and they have cute tennis skirts as well as exercise t-shirts made out of moisture wicking material. Here's the link... http://www.junonia.com/

Awesome!

I'm happy for you...your post reminded me of trying to figure out what a baby's cries mean...I hope your sleeve doesn't go through the terrible twos!

One thing that helped me was a few sessions with a personal trainer...that way I was focused on her not the people around me. It also gave me a chance to learn gym etiquette as well as learn the types of exercises/weights I ought to be doing...which gave me confidence to go back by myself.

Can you tell how old the comments are? Maybe they are from when he was just starting?

Well, at least now you know. I got a sample pack of the bars...I haven't tried them yet but my husband who has a finicky stomach liked the one he tried and he had no after effects....

I haven't had the surgery yet and I have found that in my supervised diet phase, using an app to track my food has been really important to helping me stay within my calores/carbs/protein. I've never used one before so I am a recent convert for sure....but I would recommend a focused use of a food logging program for a couple of weeks to make sure you are within a weight loss range...

Wow! Congratulations and good luck...

So since I live about 1.5 hrs away from the doctor/hospital, I tried to cram as much into today as I could. I'm glad I did with one minor exception which I will get to. First up was the nutritionist. Good news, I lost 12 pounds since last visit 4 weeks ago. Bad news, I have to cut 200 more calories from my daily intake. Sigh. I knew that I couldn't stay at 1500 and I have had many days below that...but I thought with what I lost it might only go down 100. Not sure why this is freaking me out so much...but 1300 just seems like so much less than 1500. Also have to cut anything made with flour...entirely. While I haven't had any pasta (a known trigger for me) I have had an occasional piece of toast....I feel silly mourning a piece of toast but I am. Next was the EKG. Pretty easy. Kept clothes on, hooked up with sticky pads one on each lower leg, one on each arm just above the elbow and then right around the left breast. Lay still. Done Then it was off to get the upper GI. For this one I had been fasting since 600 the night before...not even water! So after being sent to the wrong area twice I got checked in and found out that they were doing a chest xray as well. So off with the top half of the clothes, on with an ill fitting (like didn't even come close to closing in the back) hospital gown. The chest xray room had to be no warmer than 60 degrees...it was really cold. After I finished the tech gave me a warm blanket for my shoulders/back which felt awesome! The Upper GI was not horrible, but not fun either. First you drink a fizzy drink like alka seltzer and they tell you not to burp....which you really want to (or at least I did). The fizzy drink is to introduce some air into your empty stomach so that the second drink ( a really thick barium drink) will be able to coat your stomach. They use the barium to provide contrast when they take the pictures. I am using a teaching hospital so I had a newbie doctor...being coached by an experienced one. It was soo funny, I was trying really hard to not follow the coaches directions, even though it seemed silly because I could hear everything she said. So you are standing on a footpad with a bed attached and as you drink the thick drink they start taking fluoroscopy pictures following the barium down the esophagus, into the stomach. After a couple of swigs of the thick stuff, they start to lower the bed which is kind of a weird feeling until you are laying on your back. Then it is roll over time, which was not easy for me because 1. I'm a big gal, 2. the machine actually taking the pictures is right on top of me and 3. that ill fitting hospital gown got stuck....but I got all the way around...first left side, then tummy, then right side, then back to the back. This is all to literally roll the barium around in your stomach. Then, while laying, they give you a cup with a straw and a thinner barium and this time they are watching it leave the bottom of the stomach. One more position, on the tummy with the left leg bent to check for a hiatal hernia and then I was done. Whole thing took about 30 minutes once I was in the room. The only bad thing was I had planned to have breakfast in the hospital cafeteria...but GEESH. Would it kill them to have a healthy option....I guess it was between breakfast and lunch but the choices were small to none. Cardiac clearance was last, she took a cardiac history, asked about exercise habits, asked if any cardiac symptoms....all in all about a 20 minute talk and she said I was low risk and she would send a report to the dr. Yay! So , all in all, pretty efficient, arrived at 0800 and left at 1215....That's all the pre insurance tests...one more monthly visit to the nutritionist and I should be ready to submit!

Hi Welcome to the site! I made my appointment at the seminar...but I agree with Sherb....I'd give them a call...good luck!

Congrats! A 5K is awesome. If you ever get the chance to do a Run or Dye 5K go for it....too much fun!

Woo Hoo! Congrats... I have a way to go for my drivers license to be correct...lol

Love training with a personal trainer. It is the one hour of the week that I don't have to think...I only have to do. It is almost like therapy for me and helps me manage stress. Key thing is to find the right one. My first one about 10 years ago was from a body building background and I think, looking back she was not really in tune with helping someone as overweight as me...she did become a personal friend though The one I had most recently comes from an athletic background and was very good at rehabbing/strengthening my knees and hips at a challenging but manageable pace. The only con is that it can be expensive..

Wow, congrats on the determination you showed to get back to your healthy self. Thanks for sharing your story and I wish nothing but a speedy recovery and return to the healthy, happy you!

Hey, check out this you tube video on how to use myfitness pal... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnLBDx-CXt0 I've been using it for a month and it is amazing how much having the data can help you manage your intake. So if in the afternoon I know I'm jonesing for something sweet, I eat more veggies and save the carbs for a weight watchers ice cream...

Awesome! I aspire to be you in late November..lol. Hope you have a great day!