MrsSugarbabe

@@Swampdoggie - We're on a roll!!! Let's keep on keeping on! I do love finding stuff on sale, and love buying colors! Always have. Since I've always had a waist no matter my weight, I've always preferred fitted clothes, esp. for work; moreso now that everything has shrink in size I've always been of the mind that I never leave the house without some make-up on; but, as I've gotten older, on the weekends I don't worry as much with it when I head out to run errands, etc. My biggest challenge right now is dealing with my hair.... It has gotten so thin and dry. I know it will grow back, but styling it like I like has been a bit challenging. It used to be so very thick. Patience...patience...patience.

Well, now that I'm down about 60 lbs. it was time to replace my old lingerie with new, more appropriately sized lingerie. The "girls" just were not happy hanging out in the old stuff, so I went shopping yesterday after work and got re-fitted for a new bra. The style I had been wearing for 2-3 years is no longer available so I had to find a new style. It never fails, find a style of something that you love and that is working for you and they always discontinue it sooner or later. Same with make-up, nail polish colors, Bath and Body Works scents. Can you relate?? Anyway, I'm very pleased with my new purchases, and so are the "girls." Next shopping trip will probably be for more slacks for work. I'm down 2 sizes since surgery, just starting the current size this week. Need to make a return trip to a consignment shop a friend had told me about. First trip there I found several tops for work for very little money (in comparison to buying brand new). Did I mention how much I hate clothes shopping???? Always have and probably always will, but at least now I've got more options because I'm entering the area where I don't have to shop the plus size stores or sections of department stores. Happy shopping, ladies!!!

Welcome to BP!! You'll find a lot of encouragement and information here. As a diabetic, I was told to discontinue my Metformin (500 mg. 2x/day) prior to surgery, and have not gone back on it. Pre-surgery & on Metformin, my A1C maintained around 5.8 on average - managed with food, exercise, and Metformin. Post-surgery, my A1C as of mid-February was 5.7 - now managed with food & exercise only. Also, my blood pressure medication has been discontinued since just before surgery. We're keeping an eye on it because my diastolic pressure runs a little high due to me having diastolic dysfunction. Good luck on your journey!!

I love the powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury Protein powders!! Loved them before surgery and, fortunately, still love them post surgery. You can order Unjury online at www.unjury.com. If you're not satisfied with the product, you can return it. For me, it comes to about $1.25 per serving for just the powder. They even have a chicken Soup option that I use for lunch at work; just be careful of Water temperature (read the directions). It took me weeks before I felt like I was able to drink enough liquids throughout the day. Some days it's still a struggle to get enough in. Sip, sip, sipping all day long is the key. Once I recovered from my complications and was able to eat regular foods, getting enough protein became a little easier, but I still supplement with protein shakes, at least 1-2 servings a day. My new tummy doesn't tolerate much food at meal time. Some "go to" foods for me are (in no particular order): 4 oz. 2% cottage cheese (or less fat) Unjury protein powder mixed with various beverages, i.e. skim milk, SF drink mixes, etc. Low fat cheese/cheese sticks Beef Jerky (a favorite) (Aldi's/Simmons brand) Boiled egg Peanut Butter 1/2 cup black beans w/meat (my made up "recipe") Yogurt Roasted chicken Good luck on your journey!!!

Down 90 pounds!!! Awesome!!! You're obviously staying the course Some "go to" foods for me are (in no particular order): 4 oz. 2% cottage cheese (or less fat) powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury Protein powder mixed with various beverages, i.e. skim milk, SF drink mixes, etc. Low fat cheese/cheese sticks Beef Jerky (a favorite) (Aldi's/Simmons brand) Boiled egg Peanut Butter 1/2 cup black beans w/meat (my made up "recipe") Yogurt Roasted chicken These are typical things I keep on hand at work and home. Also, I use SparkPeople to track my food and exercise which really helps keep me on track. Good luck to you on your journey!!!

Awesome!!! Celebrate your 29 lb. loss!! For every pound we lose, we're that much healthier! Having "wiggle room" in chairs with arms is a fantastic feeling!!! I don't know about you, but for my entire life, it always took at least 20 lbs. of weight lost before I could feel any difference in my clothes and to lose one size. Post-surgery It wasn't until I'd lost about 50 lbs. before people started telling me it was time to buy some better fitting clothes. Hang in there!!! You will get there Good luck on your journey!!

@x0CheekzVSG @@BLERDgirl, @@WL WARRIOR, and @@Babbs all made very valid statements about our need for Protein and fluids, healing, etc., and I agree with them. There is a lot of great encouragement and support on this site, along with some great suggestions; however, bottom line - you should be doing exactly as your surgeon and NUT have recommended you to do. Based on my understanding and research, the portion of our stomachs that was removed is where the grehlin was produced and which is what makes us feel "hungry." Therefore, you probably won't feel true physical hunger for awhile which is normal; at least it was for me. I was probably at least 2 months out before I actually said to my husband "I'm hungry." During that time I still drank my protein shakes and ate what I could and drank liquids as much as possible. Like many others, it took me awhile to reach my protein and liquids daily goal; some days I still have trouble getting enough liquids in, but I keep pushing forward. As for the BM issue, it will be very different from your pre-op days. Because we're consuming so much more protein than we are of Fiber early on, there isn't going to be a lot to process through. That said, I agree with checking in with your surgeon's office. It could be you need to add a little fiber (i.e. Benefiber) to your shakes to get things moving along. I still have to do that occasionally because once I've eaten my protein, there is rarely any room for veggies and/or fruit during the day. You are still in the very early stages of your post-op journey. I wish you the best of success in your journey. Be patient and do what your surgeon and NUT have recommended for you. Different surgeons and NUTS have different plans so not all of us get the same instructions, although our instructions are pretty close a lot of the time.

@@CanyonBaby - Sound advice and wisdom. I agree with what you've said in your comments. Good reminders for me, too, as today I'm finding myself just nibbling away at stuff (jerky mainly) even though I've eaten my lunch and am drinking my Water and have had/am having a Protein beverage. Trying to refocus my energy (what I have today anyway) to stop eating since I'm not physically hungry. Thank you, @@reyes7472, for your original post! Today has been a challenge for me and your post is the first one I saw when I did a search on this topic. We will win!!! We will get past this bump in the road!!! WE CAN DO THIS!!!

Love your love story, @@CanyonBaby!!! Thank you for sharing it. I met the "one" for me 12 years ago through a similar process as yours (list, prayer, trusting), although God had me waiting until I was 47 to bring us together. And guess which avenue He used to bring us together?? I always figured I'd meet "him" at church or through other Christian singles. Not!! It wasn't until 2 of my girlfriends and I decided just for the heck of it to sign-up on eHarmony New Year's Day 2003 when they were offering 3 months free. My attitude was "fine if I met someone, fine if I didn't" because I had learned "to be content" with my life. I was serving my Lord, fellowshipping with other believers, and had a great group of Christian friends. Gary and I met a couple weeks after I signed up, first coffee date was 2/13, got engaged in May and married in October 2003. We're like peas in a pod. Although he calls me his little Sugar Babe I had always wanted a daughter, but gained 3 adult daughters and 2 grandkids when we married. My bonus daughters and I have a great relationship and I have now have 8 grandkids. Extremely blessed!!! Beyond anything I could have imagined New Year's Day 2003!!

Congratulations!!! You're looking fabulous!!!

November 10th for me. Slow going at the moment. Sooooo close to Onederland!!

Congratulations!!! Awesome! @@becweaves

Hey, ya'll!!! I'm a November sleever, too, and just found this site!!! It's encouraging to me to see how others are doing who had their surgery about the same time as I did. My surgery was done on 11/10/14. So far I'm doing quite well, although the weight loss is a little slow right now. Several days after surgery and while at home, I began experiencing some complications. I we admitted to the hospital again with pleural effusion (reactive fluid collecting around my left lung), infection, hematoma in the gut, and bile collecting under the diaphragm. Spent 13 days in the hospital and another 6 days in inpatient rehab for some intensive physical therapy. Even though I had to deal with all of this, I'm glad I had the surgery and would do it again. I've joined the Memorial Day Challenge with the goal to break under 200 lbs. I'm so close, but keep bouncing around within about a 5 lb. range. I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing - tracking food, keeping within calories, carbs, and protein goals, and exercising (all more days than not ). I'm hoping this challenge will get me into Onederland .

Thanks, @@stephh!! I'm in This is my first challenge. I'll check in on Monday with my starting weight. At this point, my goal will be to enter ONEDERLAND!! I'm so close and hope this challenge is the extra "umph" I need to make it over into the 190s.

@@Elode -- What about large purple Comic Sans????

@@ggvan What has your NUT told you at this point? Follow his/her recommendations. Once I was told I could transition to regular foods "as tolerated," I began experimenting with different raw and cooked veggies. Fortunately, my new tummy has been very tolerate of everything I've eaten. My favorite salads are, and always have been, the kinds of things @@LipstickLady suggested, and my favorite dressing is Wishbone's Red Wine Vinaigrette. It's only been in the past couple of weeks that I've ventured further into eating salads again as my main meal, and these salads are very small. Whatever type of Protein I put on my salad is eaten first, then I eat the veggies until my tummy tells me to stop (which isn't long). Always remember - PROTEIN FIRST. As you venture forward.....do so mindfully, and CHEW CHEW CHEW

AWESOME!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! INSPIRING!!!

Wow! This has been been quite the thread. I don't think I've been in Rants and Raves before. What about all those sentences ending in a preposition?? @@LipstickLady - you are right on!! I suppose I'll quit changing the font of what I type since so many of you won't want to read the comment. Since I have to use basic, standard fonts all day long, I like to change to something more "fun" (for me) when writing non-work related communications. Wish I could stay, but it's time to get back to work.........

40 lbs. is Great!!!! You're headed in the right direction! Congratulations!! Check in with a Nutritionist with your surgeon's office, assuming it's local to you. If not, check with your PCP for a referral to a nutritionist with whom you can partner to help you with your food questions, general WLS guidance, etc. A lot of us can give you suggestions, etc., but everyone's journey is different. It is possible to be eating TOO FEW calories for weight loss. My surgeon and nutritionist's guidelines are: min. 100 grams Protein daily and around 100 grams of carbs. Calories are 1000-1300. If you can, for exercise - WALK! A lot. It will be better than not doing any physical activity. Good luck on your journey!!!

@@uni2424 - Excellent report!!! Sounds like you're doing great!!! I agree - I should have done this sooner. Don't let any stalls weight you down psychologically (no pun intended ), they will pass as long as you keep doing what you know you're supposed to be doing. hair loss for me started several weeks out with increased shedding, then about week 13 I started losing it in clumps when shampooing . I know it's only temporary and I have seen evidence of new growth. I didn't buy any new (or consignment) clothes until about 50# down so a lot of folks could tell I was losing weight other than in my face . Now that I've bought some things that are more fitted to my body shape, and a more appropriate size for my current weight, lots of folks I work with are noticing the weight loss. Most of my closest co-workers knew I was having WLS; several of them have been down that road themselves. When I CHOOSE to tell someone that I've had WLS, I emphasize the fact that it was done for medical/health reasons, fatty liver, diabetes, HBP. Fortunately, no one has been negative towards me for having made this choice (I realize I'm fortunate to have had so much positive support around me). Keep on keeping on!!! For every pound we lose, we're that much healthier!

@@ilikecake2much - Welcome!! Your doctor must have had a reason to recommend you for bariatric surgery.......besides just being overweight. My PCP made the same suggestion because I was diagnosed in 2013 with non-alcoholic FATTY LIVER, which a lot, if not most, obese people probably have. I also had diabetes, albeit controlled with food, exercise, and Metformin, and high BP which had been diagnose a couple years before the liver issue. He felt WLS was the best opportunity for me to lose the 100 lbs. he said it would take in order to halt the progression of the fatty liver disease and all the bad stuff that can come with that, i.e. cirrhosis. I took about a year to read, research, and talk to everyone I'd known who had been through WLS. I, too, felt like it was such a drastic route to take to lose weight, but as my PCP said, "I know what you're already doing, and what you've already done, to try and lose weight and it's not been working well for you." Once I started thinking of WLS as a tool to lose the weight for MY HEALTH, and not as a shortcut to lose weight just for the sake of losing weight and looking better, then I was ready to make the commitment to scheduling the surgery. I wish you well on YOUR journey! Know that the new lifestyle you create for yourself by having WLS is for LIFE! Literally and figuratively. For every pound we lose, we're that much healthier!! March 31, 2015 - Tuesday Reality Check It's important to not undermine your commitment to weight loss by telling yourself, “Maybe I don’t really need/want to lose weight,” or “Maybe I don’t actually have to do these things.” If you do, you will have a much, much harder time getting yourself to just do what you need to do. From Beck Daily Diet Solutions - http://www.beckdietsolution.com/daily-diet-solutions/

@@heynowkc -- Pre-surgery I had been walking for 25-30 mins. on my lunch break at work, which I continued post-surgery when I returned to work. Then my surgeon told me I needed to ramp up my exercise in order to continue losing my weight. On a side note, several days after my sleeve surgery, I encountered some complications that put me back into the hospital for 19 days, during which I lost about 30 lbs. and a lot of muscle and strength. Just stepping up a curb I required assistance. After discharge, and once I finished my outpatient physical therapy, I joined PlanetFitness so I could continue working on rebuilding my strength, balance, and muscle via their circuit training area. Once I started feeling stronger and getting some of my energy back, I then added time on the elliptical to my routine. All that said, here is my current weekly routine: Monday-Friday (more days than not) -- walking 25 mins. on average 2-4 times per week -- 15-22 mins. on the elliptical 2-3 times per week -- several strength training exercises on machines/or circuit training (a day inbetween each session which is recommended Until I started working out at the gym, my weight loss had stalled. Even when the scale wasn't moving, i was still seeing changes in how my clothes fit confirming that I was at least losing inches if not pounds. At times like this, you have to be patient and keep following the rules. I hope this helps and encourage you in whatever form of physical activity you choose. Remember: This is for LIFE (literally). For every pound we lose, we are that much healthier.

@@Casey235 - Wendy's chili has always been a favorite of mine. My husband and I regularly do what we call Wendy's Wednesdays where I'll buy a couple of chilis, he'll have his over a baked potato with some cheese and I add just a little cheese to mine. When I measured out a 1/2 cup serving, it was about half of the small chili container - knowing that makes measuring on the go easier for me. I've not tried the Chick-fila chicken soup, but will keep it in mind next time we find ourselves there. Typically, now that I'm post-op, when we go out to eat, we will split a meal, not 50/50 obviously, but enough so that I get enough Protein and we can enjoy a meal out together. This plan has been working well for us. It also has cut down on our eating out budget Good luck on your journey!!! Just remember, always do what your surgeon and NUT suggest - that's what we're paying them for. There's a lot of great information on BP and a lot of encouragement, but everybody's journey is different.

Fast food isn't a regular for me, but I can eat a 1/2 cup of Wendy's chili and be satisfied. Also, 5 chicken nuggets will do and I'm done. Even though I have a desk job, the "convenience" foods I keep on hand are Simms beef jerky (Aldi's), Fit and Active chocolate Peanut Butter Protein bars (Aldi's), cheese sticks, peanut butter, Babybel minis, boiled eggs, 4 oz. servings frozen of whatever I make, and 4 oz. 2% cottage cheese, and @LipstickLady and @BLERDgirl have made some great suggestions. Never leave home unprepared for the day; it makes it too easy to fall into some old, not good habits. Happy Trails, @@KCLatina ! @@Casey235

Thanks, Alex! I used code X52DUHZMYSRHR for The BIG Book on Gastric Sleeve. I truly appreciate you making these books available to us! Thank you!