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Beni

Gastric Bypass Patients
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Everything posted by Beni

  1. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @@Bronxmerci What a difference! Well done. How come you have anemia? What did the doctor say? After surgery you had all those blood cloth complications but by now you should have recovered. Is it related to Vitamin deficiencies? I say that because anemia makes you weak. I had it after losing a lot of blood with my second child's birth. Not a fun time. I worry about you being able to take care of your son and work. You do look amazing.
  2. Beni

    Ever Have a Negative NSV? I just did! :-(

    It happens to me constantly. Most of the time, when I select something to try on, it's too big. Even underwear is too big, lol. I am always searching for a smaller size.
  3. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    BEST COMPLEMENT EVER I was at my doctor's office last week and ran into my doctor and he did not recognize me. That's what 108 lbs loss will do to you. I knew him well. We had 3 appointments before surgery and a web seminar face to face and I went to all of the support group meetings and saw him there twice. In other words, it's not like he didn't know me. I was sitting in the waiting room and as he walked by me, he thought I was someone waiting for a patient, he honestly didn't recognize me at all. Isn't that the most fantastic complement. My own doctor! I also had a handyman whom I knew well. he had been to my house several times (maybe 10 times in the past 5 years), he too didn't know who I was. I ran into him at a friend's house and he was clueless as to who I was. My neighbor 3 houses down also didn't recognize me, the principal at my son's school. the list goes on an on. If I changed my name, I could be someone else, lol.
  4. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @@amylynns The period and retaining Fluid didn't help but it also occurred to me your knee pain may be related to the fact that you have not exercised like you have lately in years. Our knees had to put up with all that extra weight in the past and they have worn a little. When you combine that with the fact we don't have the muscle developed to support the knees, I could see some discomfort coming our way. Perhaps focus on building muscle with weight/strength exercises before biking, running, etc. Just to get the muscle in place first. Take it easy, don't try to do too much too soon. We want you as healthy as possible so you can rock those Jeans like they should be rocked, right? You will get there. I too feel a little knee pain once in a while. In fact, sometimes, I can seriously hear my knees making loud noises. I go, I'm sure the entire room is not supposed to be hearing my knees (i'm sure they don't) and I try to modify my step and it usually improves. For me, I have to walk in a more active way. Like I have to be aware of the muscles supporting my knees. If I walk completely carelessly throwing my legs in whatever way, I hurt. Locking my knees as I stand is also really bad. With my knees I feel like all the padding is gone and they are just bone on bone. I am sure that's not true or I would be in terrible pain but my knees are thin now. Imagine that, lol. Your last photos looked great. I am at 162 and decided I do not want to drop any more weight. I am a size 10 pant size. Perfect for me. I will work on tummy toning instead. Toning everywhere really. I am beginning to feel too thin. Maybe in a couple months I will look at it again but for right now I am happy at 162. Everyone in my family agrees I am good. I talked to my Nutritionist about maintaining my current weight. But I lost 2 more pounds since I saw her. Heck!
  5. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @@Shadow427 That's freaking unbelievable. He had RNY as well. What are the chances! What a wonderful surprise. I am sooo glad you had a fun time. Live is here for the living and for so long we did not live. That's the honest truth. I survived but I did not "LIVE." Now I feel there is nothing I can't do. That power is something I had forgotten I even had, isn't that the saddest thing. Being Morbid Obese sucked the life out of me both physically and emotionally. I was like the lobster placed in the pot of cold water. All was good, I was feeling a little cozy as the water warmed up, but I was okay. I was complacent to my predicament. I hardy even realized if I didn't jump out of that pot I was going to boil to death. That's what obesity does to you. It saps your life away. Isn't that the truth?
  6. Eating at restaurants is absolutely fun. It was not one month after surgery but one year later I am happy to say, I can always find a good choice anywhere I go. The portions are usually too big but hello, lunch for the next day is already done. There are lots of healthy options, There always were, it's just that I was so hungry I would inhale anything. Now I have self-control. If this is how the rest of the world (the non-morbid obese portion) feels about food, now I see, I would have never had a chance. Lion sized hunger won every time. Now, I actually have enough time to think about what I should or would like to eat. Life after surgery is good!
  7. Beni

    It’s About Time We Eat Real Food

    I use almost only fresh foods. The exception are Greek yogurt, the occasional Protein bar for a snack mid afternoon when I have to run out the door. An occasional can of chick peas and a very occasional Diet Snapple with Peach. Everything else is fresh and the best I can find. Even the tea I drink is loose leaf and comes in a can from Sri Lanka. After surgery. I did look at what I ate before surgery with fresh eyes and the picture of health did not come to mind. We have to make the changes that can best fuel our bodies. Given our reduced absorption it is of the outmost importance to be smart about what we eat.
  8. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    On the negative side, because there must be another side to every story. I am now without a tush. The silver lining is I now can fit in most pant styles without worrying about my posterior. However, I must say once in a while I look and wonder where it went. In high school, I had by far the biggest butt of all my close friends. If they could see me now!
  9. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @@Shadow427 Advanced player group, hurray. Go get them tiger! My ticker had the same issue a while back and I sent a message to Alex Brecher and he fixed it.
  10. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    Hello Gladiators as we come upon our anniversary: less then one Month away from OCTOBER, I can't help but ponder on where we were and where we are. Just today, I realized I can run up the stairs. In fact, I ran up the stairs more then 10 times this morning. Laundry day, lol. Just to give you an idea, I used to bring down with me everything I needed for the day. If I was going out, my makeup would be done before coffee and I would bring down the clothes I would wear later. In other words, I avoided going back upstairs at all costs. My poor children carried all the stuff up and down. There used to be a pile at each end looking for carriers. Now, I do all my own carrying, thank you very much. Not once did my legs hurt either. I want to shout from the mountain top, THIS IS THE BEST THING I EVER DID. Wow, I am overwhelmed with pride for all of us. We are awesome beyond measure. We were before but now we can actually enjoy our lives without feeling all coupled up in a less then efficient body. Imagine being picked for an advanced group in any sport one year ago, or getting anyone to say you look amazing. Running up the stairs is my very own version of heaven. I shall savor the moment and linger on the notion that I can do something now I thought I could not ever do.
  11. Done that. Wait until you gulp some drink and hello, gulping not cool! One forgets. The good news is it gets easer. I am 11 months post surgery and I can drink at a decent pace. The first 4 months are hard but then every month is so much easier.
  12. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    So true @@LisaCO
  13. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    Hi everyone, I have been super busy. All the weight loss has done wonders for my spirit and I started a business. Have wanted to my whole life. I finally had the courage to do it. As the fat girl I just didn't think I had the mental fortitude to face the possibility of failure. Besides, I always felt like no one would give me the time of day, remember the invisible days. So happy to hear about ammylyns going back to college. It's never too late to dream and wish. Everyone who posted photos looks smoking. Wish I could answer all your posts individually but I have to dash. Weight stable. Not an ounce dropped in 5 weeks. Not worried. I am fine with 165. I too eat blueberries like crazy. My favorite treat is blueberries and greek yogurt. There are so many new options with 7 to 15 gr of Protein per serving. Compare that to 7 gr for an egg. eating has become very normal for me and I don't find it difficult at all. Occasional I get that feeling that I am eating to fast or you better not have another bite but I have not been sick in forever. But I am careful. Love you all !
  14. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @@Luna222 How is your brother doing? I feel for him. I had this surgery in part to prevent type 2 diabetes. There is a good chance anyway to prevent it. I have been thinking of you.
  15. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @@layknee Hi, How are you doing?
  16. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @@joankrie I cannot wait for the day that I stop wandering into the woman's section. It is a complete waste of time. I am a size 10 and nothing in there fits. Accepting who I am is extremely hard. I still see myself the same way but when I look in the mirror I see someone else. For example, I was at a National Park the other day and it was a very hot sunny day. This park ranger was talking to some park visitors. There was a chair under this shade canopy and I stopped and sat to tie my shoe laces. He looked at me at some point and I said. I'm sorry, I took over your chair. His answer still stops me on my tracks "Please do, you are so beautiful you are allowed to sit anywhere." This is the first complement I have received from a guy in over 20 years. I must say, I did look extra nice that day. I was wearing a new outfit and had done my hair and make up nicely. For me it was a 10 day. It felt so nice not to be ignored. I am sure a year ago his answer would have been "it's okay." After the people he was talking to left, guess who came over and talked to me for a long while, I was a little taken aback because no one comes to talk to me, not like that ever. Wow! He was charming and it was not weird but I was not sure what to do. Fortunately, my family came back and I could say bye in a graceful way.
  17. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @@Shadow427 Thank you so much. I managed 2 crabs, hurray. But if you think about it there is not a lot to eat in a crab. They were very good and I was so happy they didn't make me sick. I was wondering! And I even had a perfect single bite of cheesecake.
  18. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    I am celebrating my birthday today with my family. SO excited because I am going out to dinner for Maryland crabs, a favorite of mine. Probably one crab will be all I can eat but that will make me happy anyway. I MUSt stay away form hush puppies, they are like fried corn bread nuggets. Too much oil/sweetness and I do not want to get sick. Fortunately, eating crabs is a slow process and that plays well in my favor. By the way, eating too fast is my number one issue since surgery. I decided to buy an outfit yesterday just to boost today's celebration. Found a really nice dress and tried a few sizes and the usual, nope too big need a size down still goes on. For whatever reason I have a hard time believing I am that small. Yes, I still walked around the Women's section. The size dress that fit best was a 10. Imagine that a size 10. The fabric is a little stretchy but for a fitted dress, it's a dream come true.
  19. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @@amylynns I love greek yogurt with berries too. I have decided berries are the perfect bariatric food. A little sweetness but not too much. They come in tiny packages sized for our tiny tummies and they taste so good. I even purchased baby spoons so I can eat my yogurt slowly. I love it so much I save it for the time of day I will be in greater need of comfort. Something like I'll go grocery shopping (I hate it) but then I can have my yogurt with berries. It is the highest food commodity in my trade book. I call it my trade book because I allow myself to get something from my trade book if I provide the work. Something like, if I clean the kitchen, then I can watch a TV show. Those are the little trade games I play. I have all these rewards for motivation, lol. I know, I'm special that way.
  20. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @@Luna222 Bummer on the weight gain. But I agree with Amylynns with the period thing Water retention does work against you. Once this period is over you will make great progress. The journaling is a great idea because it makes you stop and think about what you are eating and it tells you exactly what you have been eating. Even though it's incredible that we can gain weight given the reality of our surgery from what I read the cause is mostly due to the fact that we can eat small amounts all day long. We are not really hungry but a couple bites here and there add up. I have been guilty of that at times. I started to notice a pattern with me. I was snaking more because my meals were too small and too quick. In other words, I have to have a Breakfast if I am hungry or not or I'll tend to snack. A slice of cheese and two crackers, then 1/2 of a banana with 2 potato chips, etc. They are small but if I have 4 of those in a morning I am eating way more calories then if I eat a single egg with veggies or berries. I love mild swiss cheese and eat it as a snack. A single rolled slice is such a treat to me but I could have 6 in a day. That's a lot of extra calories I don't need. I am stalled right now at 167.4 for a week. It's incredible that everyday the exact same weight appears. You would think it would vary even a .1 or something. I think it's because my activity level is not very high. I do sit around a bit too much. Time to rock and roll. I have to find a project that gets my body moving.
  21. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @@PinkPolkadot619 Good to hear from you. I ate a bowl of Kellog's Protein cereal with milk the other day. I was thinking the protein would make it "good for me" but hello, it has too much sugar. The combination of milk and cereal which amounts to eating and drinking at the same time - a big no, no made it a horrible experience. I actually had a tummy ache that felt like it went all the way down my GI track. My bad. No more cereal and milk for me. I do love Greek yogurt with berries and not once have I felt sick eating that. My biggest worry is that I will have more then one per day. I have to watch out or I'll live on that. I too eat for comfort and a late snack was a danger zone for me. I have a cup of herbal tea with a little milk, half a teaspoon of honey and a packet of Stevia every evening. It tastes sweet to me and it is very comforting. One pound from goal is absolutely amazing, well done!
  22. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @Shadow427 I am actually relieved you have quit. Cape May is amazing but it sounded like you were working too much. The worrisome thing is "WE" as a group are not good at taking care of our nutritional needs. I ate too fast and used food for comfort because it felt good. Most of the time I ate more when I was stressed and exhausted or even unhappy. I know everyone of us is different but in the back of my mind I was thinking if she is working this hard for such long hours how much you wanna bet she is not spending enough time taking care of herself. It's so easy to get sucked into a situation and losing sight of the goal. We have all travelled too far down this journey to forget we are gladiators and we will always be. After a nice relaxing vacation you will be able to focus on looking for a job that is good for you. You come first!
  23. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @@Luna222 You have been busy in the dating game. I would be suspicious of the Fitness dude too. If you are dating someone you shouldn't be trying to sell them something, right? That's a huge red flag. Even if he is the most wonderful person, he is guilty of poor emotional intelligence. I am glad you and your BF are trying to make changes. Life is too short to be unhappy. However, I must agree finding a good guy is hard. Finding a good "anything" is such hard work. Even a good pair of shoes is hard to find. I am glad your scope is fine. I am sure you probably just need to work towards balance in the foods you eat. Sometimes I have to be very careful. I am taking two weeks of Omeprozole (same as Protonix) and now I feel much better. I think my issue was stomach acid. I had some Protein oatmeal that was too large of a portion. It was the Quaker Oatmeal little packages but it did not agree with me. I am also trying to be more careful with food. I make sure I eat slowly again (surprise, surprise) and always eat something with my pills. I was getting a little lax with my regimen. Still eating all the right stuff but lunch was happening at 2:00 Pm and my pills were not taken at the right times. I get distracted. I am also more sensitive to sugar then I used to be. I could eat a cookie and be fine. Now, not so much. Even a pear or a banana is too much sugar. I always have to eat it with some other food first and then only one bite. I had two spoons of a pudding like dessert for dinner and my heart was racing within 10 minutes. I was also feeling so hot, I had to turn on a fan and lay down. Blueberries are the perfect food because there is a little sugar but not too much. Even a sweet salad dressing is too risky. I think anything sweet that gets absorbed too quickly is bad. My NUT told me a long time ago you can train your palate to a degree of sweetness that's acceptable. Like finding your sweet threshold and using those things as you sweet treat. I also have in the back of my mind that 10 grams of sugar per serving are the max. In yogurt and other foods I check for that. My favorite dessert right now is Yoplait Greek 100 Cheesecake or Blueberry flavor. So yummy! I would seriously suffer if those went out of production, lol.
  24. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @@Shadow427 16 to 18 hours may be a little too much. I do stuff like that to myself all the time. I get involved in a project and work myself to the point I can't sleep. The dogged on persistence I am naturally endowed with at times gets in the way. I also tend to take care of everyone first and me last. Usually the bottom of the list gets less then the needed attention. A few weeks back I was actually taking Nyquil to fall asleep. I needed to make adjustments. A friend told me how important it was to take care of me or everything will fall apart. She is right. If there's a way, carve a little "you time" to relax in order to fall asleep. A glass of wine is not a big deal, in my opinion. The overworking and devaluing our needs (sleep) is and I am the most guilty person in that area. In fact, I find it to be one of my greatest challenges. Somehow I find a need to do too much but I am trying so hard to have "me time" carved. To be honest with you, I think my weight issues were related to that. Because I was so tired, the only soothing thing was eating. It felt good and made me sleepy. No wonder at the end of the day I would have a big dinner and go to sleep. Now I have to replace food with something else. Right now It's working on projects I am so grateful I am physically able to do. Finding this new body with so much more energy is fantastic. However, I am overdoing it. Ex: nearly broke my leg doing something that I should have not been doing and sliced the top of my thumb badly. All because I was too exhausted to slow down. Not good. I must find balance. Take care of yourself. We desperately need caring and we have to be the ones to do it. I still think your Cape Cod summer is awesome but if you can, take a little time for you.
  25. Beni

    OCTOBER 2014

    @@Shadow427 I am so jealous of your summer at Cape Cod (12 hour days included). What a beautiful place. Love that you have built in exercise. I have decided that's the best way to live. I much rather do that then go to the gym. At the end you have something palpable to show for. After walking 5 miles on the treadmill I have nothing. When I power clean the house I get a clean house. I really think the secret to balance is having activities during our day that provide enough exercise, sitting behind a desk all days is not fit for humans. If I were to live another life I would have picked a profession based on that notion. Right now I am a stay at home mom but I would like to find something to do because when my kids leave I am going to be without a life.

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