Beni

Funny on the no snacking rule. My NUT and RN both insisted that I have to have a snack in the afternoon around 4:00 Pm in order to make it to dinner at 7:00 PM. If I don't my blood sugar will become too low and I'll run out of fuel. Yes, it has happened. I used to have to take a nap in the afternoon to make it to dinner. Now, my snack is supposed to be a 100 cal or so, not a meal. So, I have breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. Once in a while I will have a bite of something but it's not out of control. I don't see how a cracker or a chocolate bite will ruin my bariatric life. That does not make any sense. It's like telling someone if you have a glass of wine you will become an alcoholic. Yes, there are dangers with snacking because we are in a higher risk category then the general population. We had weight issues before. We have gone "there" but mindful eating is not the same as mindless eating. Mindful drinking is not the same as mindless drinking. Right? We have to eat, lol!

Oh yeah, even with the 2 Hawaiian rolls, I lost a pound but I think it was because I moved a lot yesterday. Busy like a bee. I find that just moving lots is the best for me. Sometimes I even make up busy work to keep moving. I used to sit around a lot. The new me moves all the time. It's fantastic.

Funniest thing happened yesterday. Had to go to the apple store with my computer. It's heavy so I placed it in a piece of luggage with wheels. Well, in order to get it out I had to bend down and forward. Behold my boobs decided to slide right out of the bra. They poured out from the top and when I got up I had this bump on my chest that was not exactly easy to conceal. I had the Genius dude right in front of me and it wasn't like I could get my hands in my shirt and organize things. Jeez, ridiculous situation to be in. When I finally got to the car I couldn't help but laugh, look around and rearrange things. Note to self, when purchasing a bra, I must do the bend forward test to make sure things stay in. Trust me, I didn't see this one coming!

Sorry everyone, have not been around for a bit. Life got busy and my computer had a virus. Pop up windows that basically ran all over the screen making it impossible to turn them off. Jeez! Things have been going well but I still get sick once in a while. Last Saturday, I ate a strawberry too fast and go really sick. My tummy was queasy for days and I think I am going back on Protonix. Does anyone get a lot of burping and gas? I am not sure why but sometimes I get these burping fits and I can't stop burping for an hour. My diet is good except for yesterday. I ate two Hawaiian bread rolls. Not all at once. Just a bite here and there but it was two freaking rolls. Didn't make me sick though. Very surprised! Must do better today! I have been thinking of you all a lot lately and imagining how feeling better must be making such a difference in your lives. Love, always!

@ PinkPolkaDot619 Wow that's a big shirt and you look fantastic.

Protein drinks are nasty. I only drank the necessary amount during pre-diet and the few weeks after surgery. I have not touched them since. Fortunately my doctor does not want me to use them at all now. My NUT tells me I should be eating my protein not drinking it. Of course early on you can't but that's such a short period of your life even though it feels like an eternity when you are in the middle of it. Premier Choc and Vanilla were my faves. But the Genepro unflavored was great because I would add it to homemade chicken and beef stock and it was delicious. It saved me because I could eat it with a spoon and felt like food but took care of my fluid requirements at the same time.

@@Bronxmerci I doesn't matter what and who caused you to seek help regarding your weight. Remember your life is about you and what you decide to make of it. Even if a hurtful comment can be what gets the ball rolling. In my case my horrible Cpap machine , high blood pressure and pre-diabetes played a major role. But my ankle was really hurting. Basically the Achilles tendon was detaching and causing a large spur on the back of my foot. Couldn't wear closed shoes and going up and down stairs was super painful. My best friend and I were at the mall and she wanted to go to Nordstoms which was clear across on the other side of the mall. I couldn't do it. My foot hurt so bad I had to tell her to go ahead without me and that we would meet up when she doubled back and we would go out to dinner. She decided to stay with me but she told me she was very worried about me and how I was not taking good care of myself and how I always put everyone's needs in front of my own and that had to stop. I went home and cried but the very next day, I started my journey. I have not told her about my WLS, someday perhaps I will but it doesn't matter. I needed to hear those things because they were TRUE.

I too have been dizzy at times. I think it's because of low blood sugar. Sometimes I forget to eat. It will be 2:00 PM and I have not eaten since 7:00 AM. Very bad! I also get accident prone at that point because my coordination is impaired. Thus the numerous bandaids on my fingers, as it seems cutting anything will result in personal injury. I do crave carbs and salty things more so then sweets. But then chocolate will always be a part of my life. A friend brought me chocolate covered Macadamias nut from Hawaii. I am going to have to take a bite. Just a tiny one, once in a while.

I was also told by my medical team there is no such thing as stretching your pouch. What you eat and how you eat is what causes the food to pass through allowing us to eat more then we should. Slider foods, drinking with meals, eating too fast are the real issues not the pouch stretching. We have to eat slowly to promote a filling of the egg sized stomach and emptying while triggering the nerve that detects fullness in the proper way. When the next bite comes the stomach keeps emptying. If we go too fast you can consume way more without feeling satisfied. Not chewing well enough causes food to get stuck and then you get the foamies. The reason you can't stretch your stomach it's because it's like a tiny ziplock bag with a hole at the bottom about the size of dime to a nickel. It's impossible because food goes right out. I am describing gastric bypass. With the sleeve, if you overfill, what you get is horrible reflux. The only thing that happens is while your pouch is healing is is very sensitive. Once it heals it's more elastic and more efficient at emptying. This is why some patients say they feel no restriction. I would recommend talking to your doctor and nurse. They can explain the way this works in a way that is most helpful. I am very grateful for that because I feel like I understand what is going on. Knowledge is power, right?

A plastic surgeon told me that you have to document skin rashes and use prescription strength creams on them. Don't just use free samples the GP or dermatologist gives you. Actually fill the prescription because all the documentation is how you get insurance approval for both breast and tummy plastic surgeries. If you have skin overlapping creating an area where moisture develops and stays you are at a greater risk of developing skin infections not only now but later as we age. It's not even a wanting to look good. It's a, you will have a lot of trouble in the nursing home. At that point, plastic surgery won't be in your mind, right? I was also told insurance approves outright if if your tummy skin overlaps your pubic area. For some of us with higher amounts of weight lost this will be true. Not that I am advising anyone to have plastics but we have a history of not taking great care of ourselves. After all, didn't we get dangerously heavy and lived with it for way too long. I can see us as a group living with the skin complications and putting off doing anything about because that's how it is.

Just updated my ticker and realized I too have lost 75 lbs I have decided my new wight goal is 170 lbs which happens to be the expected weight loss from gastric bypass for my starting weight and my height. This means I am only 25 lbs away from my goal. This is looking so real. I feel great again! Yes, things are sagging big time and I do need a breast lift like no other (must wait a while for that) but Spring is coming. This winter has been so long and depressing, I can't wait to get out and about outside.

Yes, things are sagging big time for me too and I'm still at 195 lb. In fact, given that reality I have moved my weight goal from 150 to 170. Perhaps a breast lift would help. I am not a big believer in plastic surgery but in our case, I think we have a medical reason. Just as someone in a crash that needs reconstruction, we need help. It's not like we can workout to the shape we should be. Plastics are expensive but I have come to the sad realization a breast lift for me is a necessity. I went from a 42 DD to a 38D but things have gone south in a major way. With an additional 25 weight loss expected things are bound to get even worse. I'll see how that goes and then consider a tummy tuck. I'll have to wait until I stop losing weight for any of this to happen. My surgery was only 4 months ago. Surprisingly my bat wings don't bother me as much as my breasts. Even my tummy is not so bad because I wear shapewear. I am fortunate my knees look fine but I am more of a Bermuda shorts kind of girl. Love shorts that hit at the knee or right below. The other area that is seriously annoying is the flab between my legs. Wearing a dress will always require shorts as an undergarment. When the weather gets hot that's going to be horrible. I also noticed when I try pants the fabric has to be fairly heavy or with lycra or the sag/bumps on my legs are visible right through. Yikes!

Congrats Shadow on the 75 lbs and Smiley on the 100 lbs. Well done. Now we all know it's possible. One little step at a time.

@@Bronxmerci I'll start by saying you look amazing right now. I understand wanting a little more but don't beat yourself up. Please don't sacrifice your sanity and beauty for a line in the sand. I don't know how you will look that much smaller but i worry if your curves will be gone. Take it a day at a time. Only you will know when you look at yourself and go, I am good. Focus on health and muscle too. Some people look great super thin others do not. I would reassess every 5 pounds. I was going for 150lbs but at 197lbs and size 16, I feel really good. I am not done but I think once I make it to size 12, I am going to take a serious look at myself. The only thing i truly want is to be at a size that any line of clothing will fit me. I want to be normal.

@@Getting-used-to-new-me Thank you so much for that link on the weight question. I was able to calculate my expected weight loss. I was 270 and I'm 5' 5" and the website stated I can expect to lose 100 lbs. That will place me at 170 pounds. Fantastic, I will be very happy with that. I'm 197 right now and I already feel amazing. Only 27 pounds away from what is expected. Anything else is bonus but I am not going to fight it. I'll let my body dictate and I will focus on health instead.

Hi everyone, I have a question, did any of your doctors or NUTS talk about expected weight loss? I know, everyone loses at their own rate, but I have no real feel for what is the average expected weight loss with Gastric bypass. I remember vague conversation about a certain percentage of excess weight being expected. Does anyone know anything about this?

I too have slowed down to a crawl. When I was shopping for a WLS surgeon, one told me the human body is very good at holding on to the fat stores. It will do anything it can to keep them. It will lower our metabolism to a crawl to keep the fat. He explained how some people are baffled that they exercise and still don't lose weight. He said the body compensates for the extra calorie expenditure by literally placing you in a state of low energy for the rest of the day. Things like feeling cold at the extremities, not moving much at all. I have started to notice some of this is happening with me. It's almost like my body is only using the smallest movement possible to accomplish the task. I think what he was trying to say is we have to ramp up energy consumption all day long. I am going to be more mindful of this principle. That means maintaining a high energy output all day long. Yes, I can take a few breaks but I have to be moving most of the time. Does this make sense? I think my metabolism is so efficient a preserving fat stores it has reduced my calorie expenditure to the absolute min. I have to fight that somehow. I was doing this for a long while but winter got depressing and its so cold outside. I was to the point of cleaning all my windows, vacuuming almost everyday, window shopping for 4 hours at a time and I did those things just to be moving. It got pretty funny. One day I even cleaned all the surfaces of the furnace and Water heater. I literally became a cleaning fiend. I figured I either go to a health club 5 days a week or I clean for 3 hours per day. I made my choice. Now I'm slacking on that. My house is just all clean, lol!

@@amylynns So funny, with the mirror aisle. I totally relate. I have a large mirror in the hallway and every time I go that way I catch a glimpse of my reflection. I still wonder if that's really me. Can I really be that small?

I would have done it as soon as my BMI was above 35. For me that was about 10 years ago. I was overweight as soon as I had babies but I did lose some but not enough with each child the pounds piled on. Also my eating habits got worse. I was too busy taking care of everyone and I came last. Making a decision about WLS is hard but I think I needed to be realistic about how likely was I do be able to lose the amount of weight needed to be healthy. I lost 10 years feeling sorry for myself. In 5 months I lost 70 lbs. Like that was ever going to happen without surgery? Now I can move on to LIVING.

oranges=death. I think because if we chew it it's still hard to breakdown the fibers and it gets stuck. Nausea for at least an hour follows. I will chew, drink the juice and spit out the fibrous stuff if I am eating by myself or no oranges for moi. Strawberries, blueberries or a 1/4 of a banana or 1/4 apple is great. Anymore banana or apple results in too much sugar and I'm so tired afterwards.

I am feeling hunger these days. I know my nutritionist says that if I eat tiny bites and chew everything to death for 25 minutes this should equal and hour per 5 minutes of eating that I won't feel hunger. By this method this morning (20 minutes of eating = 4 hours) my chickpeas, red bell peppers and 1/4 of banana should give me 4 hours of not feeling hunger. Well, it's only 10:30 AM and less then two hours since Breakfast and I could eat a cow. I am having some hot tea, which saves me because it feels like I'm full. But I could chew on something right now. It's going to be a long morning until 12:00 noon and the earliest I will allow myself to eat lunch. I am hungry! Last night I ate a tiny slice of orange, maybe a 1/8 of an orange, with my dinner. I think I didn't chew it well enough because I was so sick. I think it got stuck. Note to self: oranges=death. Lost 1 pound this past week. Oh well, at least I'm moving in the right direction.

Today, I'm going to write a plan of what I'll eat and actually eat that. I used to do this early on because I had to measure but now I don't. I find that I graze a bit more. Nothing outrageous but there's a piece of cheese and a cracker here and there. Some leftovers. I simply have to make my meals longer and balanced. I did good with lunch yesterday. I ate in 22 minutes. Much better then normal. Unfortunately. the rest of the day I ate on the fly. I did eat a few things I shouldn't like a chocolate covered pretzel and two biscotti. Blast! I cannot resist those and then I felt so tired because it was way too much sugar. What the heck, why did I do that? MUST do better today.

Yes, the weight gain has slowed down significantly. I think (more or less) our free ride has ended. Now we have to do some serious work. Exercise and watching what we eat is key. The good news is exercising is a lot easier now and the weather will improve very soon. Perhaps we can use the natural Spring boost to get going on our journey with renewed energy. This has been a long winter for us. But there's hope ahead. Lets' not get discouraged because our weight loss is so slow. We have come too far to just go, oh well! Come on Gladiators, Lets' battle. Here's my challenge for today. Let's do two things that help us. Today, I pick an afternoon cup of warm tea and 30 minutes of walking. That's what I will do to "love" myself. What can you do?

@@tacycakes Thank you for your kind words. Leading our group has been a privilege and a honor. I couldn't have done it without you all. The support we have all given each other has been incredible and one of the greatest gifts in my life. When I check in, I know I will have news from someone that I can relate to, feel empathy, help and be helped. There is no therapy that would accomplish that. All from the privacy of my home. It's a blast to know you all. Thank you everyone.

@@Glyndalin Glenda you look awesome. Amazing progress. Looking at your picture makes me realize I am about the same size as you. I'm at 198lbs. A little more, but it gives me a general visual idea. Photos such as yours are great reality checks because it is so hard to see how good we look. Congratulations, so proud of what you have accomplished.