*Lexie*

@@LipstickLady This line made me snort. "Plain Water makes me nauseated so I get most of my fluids in via coffee, diet soda and liquor (KIDDING!!)." I drink diet soda. I don't smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol or do drugs but lordy, I just want a diet soda. It brightens my day. I agree with LipstickLady, I can't drink anything for close to an hour after eating or I'll get sick. I've taken that one bite too many a few times (I'm still learning) and it's incredibly painful. I've never felt that discomfort from drinking soda or I certainly would never drink it. My physician's main issue with soda is the caffeine (slight risk of ulcers), drinking full calorie and not losing weight, or the bubbles causing uncomfortable burping. I drink caffeine-free diet and the carbonation doesn't cause me discomfort. I do find it interesting that the topic of whether to drink soda or not creates some strong opinions. I admit I'm a little jelly of all those that have been tough enough to give it up. At the end of the day, I don't think it's just one thing that will cause us to fail. It's a series of things. Not exercising, grazing and quite possibly, drinking soda.

Wow, there's some great advice given here. I like the idea of writing out a healthy grocery list and keeping up on the fluids. The only thing I would add is asking yourself why all the sudden you want this stuff? Deep down do you feel like you've hit your goal and want to reward yourself? We've spent our whole lives being rewarded with food, particularly sugar so it's not that far fetched. Have you rewarded yourself for hitting goal? Buying some new clothes, getting a pedicure or whatever makes you feel good? P.S. Congrats on hitting goal, that's inspiring!

You deserve to brag, those are hard things to change.

194.2 today.

My doc mentions it in passing that it could cause gas for some people. I've not talked to anyone who's had issues with straws. If my drink comes with a straw, I drink out of it and I've never had an issue. In the scheme of rules, I don't rank this one very high up on the priority list. i.e. Protein goals, Water goals, no drinking with meals, etc.

I have a lot of issues with food intolerances and throwing up. And I do have cases where one day I can eat something fine and the next day it makes me sick. But now that I've been tracking it and know what foods are bothering me, it's not happening nearly as often.

My doctor doesn't require special bariatric Vitamins. I take a generic brand from Target/Walmart and my blood work came back in great shape. I'm drinking a big glass of Water as I type this because I am really bad about getting my daily dose of water.

Received this article from my surgeon and wanted to share it. I definitely need to work on drinking more Water. http://www.bariatriceating.com/2015/03/02/top-10-bariatric-post-op-mistakes/

It depends on your surgeon. For me, once the approval came in, I'd already met the weight loss requirement and taken the required classes that my surgeon provided so it was just a matter of getting a surgery date and doing the pre-op diet.

It seems like around 40-50lbs lost is when everyone starts noticing.

You are adorable! I can't imagine what more you could want to change but we are much harder on ourselves than others are. If you still have contact with your surgeon's office, they may be able to recommend a personal trainer that has worked with post op patients previously who may have a better understanding of your situation and not be judgmental.

197.0 today

Congrats! I remember that day, I was so excited and terrified at the same time. It got real once I had a date. I thought the hardest part was the pre-op diet, you get through that and you're good.

I did. I remember thinking that if I could lose weight on my own, I wouldn't need flipping surgery. LOL What I finally did was just put my head down and push through to hit the goal. My advice, adopt a pre-op diet for a week or so. Mine was 2 Protein shakes and a healthy dinner. You should drop at least 5lbs in a week from that. Just keep your eyes on the prize! You can do this.

I hate my scale too. Sometimes I feel like I'm in an abusive relationship. My day depends on if the scale is nice to me. LOL Nothing you can do, this is normal. Just wait it out and you'll start losing again soon. My stall lasted 3 full weeks. But once I got past it, the loss was slow and steady after that.

Your doctor should have a list of foods and timeline for each stage after surgery. Typically you're on liquids for a few weeks, then puree/soft foods and eventually transition to regular food.

Well I just threw up in a trash can in my office during a conference call because I ate something that my sleeve didn't approve of so yeah, super easy. Your post is exactly why I didn't tell a single soul at work. People can be dense sometimes.

It took you 20lbs to wake up and decide to change. Much better than gaining it all back. I know you can do it. You came the right place for support.

195.0 today

I heard the Mexican sleeves crave more Taco Bell. Haha, just kidding!

@@Babbs I'm going to Hawaii in December of this year. My goal is to run the Honolulu marathon and then lounge at the beach for a week as a reward. I have a lot of work to do between now and December. Let me know how your trip is and I would love any suggestions on hotels or things to do.

I learned that what I see in the mirror does not resemble reality. When I weighed 250+ pounds, I didn't think I looked that fat. Now, I can't see the weight loss and keep thinking that I'll look better in 10 more pounds, 10 more pounds, 10 more pounds. I've also realized that I have some disordered eating habits and it seems like the surgery shined a big spotlight on these issues. It's amazing that I never saw these issues before surgery. I'm working on them but it's a process.

This is motivating to more than just those starting the process. I had surgery a month before you and I find this very motivating. You look so good!!

I stalled for 3 weeks early on and thought I was going to lose my mind. People on here tried to be so encouraging and telling me to be patient. I wish I could say that it helped and I became the most patient person ever. I did eventually start losing weight again and the good news it, it didn't stop again. Doesn't mean it won't happen again but having like 4 months of pretty steady weight loss is amazing.

I just watched this episode on Hulu. I was a little frustrated at her denial. It's one thing to need to work on the mind stuff, I sure need to work on it and am by no means perfect. It's another thing to lie and manipulate others. On a side note, I have watched a few other episodes and find this show really motivating. It's amazing to see people work so hard and change their lives. I think that's what draws me to this site, there are so many people here that have or are in the process of changing their lives and that really keeps my head in the game.