KristenVSG2014

Here you go: http://quotereel.com/21-quotes-to-inspire-you/ HW 290+/SW 261/GW 160/CW 159

I was so happy because I took a walk yesterday then a shower and put on a clean compression garment. A few hours later before going to sleep I went to the bathroom to pee and noticed I had blood all over my compression garment. When I lifted it my belly button had blood coming out of it so I cleaned it up, put Neosporin and gauze. This morning the gauze barely had any blood so I'm not worried about it but dang it now I have to treat this garment for blood AGAIN. HW 290+/SW 261/GW 160/CW 159

I made an "inspiration book" where I put quotes I liked and stories of people who lost weight. Whenever I would get discouraged or need motivation/inspiration, I would look at that book. Keep it positive. Don't try using fat pictures of yourself to motivate you, it will only depress you. Also, don't use an airbrushed unattainable famous person's body as motivation. Find stories of real people who lost massive amounts of weight and be inspired by them. I guess Pinterest would work too. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

First, never say "only" regarding any weight lost from here on. ANY weight lost is a victory. Celebrate every ounce. Second, you've got this. Stay the course. Stay positive! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

You are three weeks ahead of me! I'm SO glad I took four weeks off of work. I don't know how in the world I could've gone back after only two (I'll be two weeks post op on Monday). I just had my vertical incision just below my belly button start to bleed a little yesterday, I'm still scabbed over mostly everywhere else, I still can't walk quite straight because it is pulling on my internal sutures, and walking is exhausting. On the positive side, I'm thrilled with my results. Swelling is getting better every day and my boobs look freaking awesome (I had a breast lift too). Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I got my last drain out yesterday. SO happy about that. It was starting to make me miserable since I went off pain meds Monday. I also noticed when I got home later I had bled through my shirt a little. My tape is beginning to wear off in some areas and on my vertical incision is a small area that bled. So I took a shower with soap and Water, dried off, put on some antibiotic ointment and gauze. This morning I removed the gauze. It had bled through about half of the gauze but not to the outside. I replaced it with a new piece of gauze but no more ointment since they said it is best to keep the incisions dry until they heal completely. I really really hope I don't have any others open. I know this is on the area with the most tension so I'm being extra careful not to put any extra tension there as it heals. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I can eat an entire box of Cheeze-Its... but I can only eat two chicken wings. P.S. That only happened once and I never brought Cheeze-Its into my house again. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Definitely take your PPI. I needed Zantac for the first three months before my stomach stopped pumping out so much dang acid. Also, yes, I could feel the incision pulling. It hurt quite a bit for a few weeks. Actually it's kind of funny because I'm laying here in a recliner covered in incisions from hip to hip, all the way up the center of my stomach and all around my breasts because I had all my loose skin removed and ALL of the incisions have been pulling this week since I went off of pain medication. It will heal. Follow your doctor's orders. Stay positive! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

What she said. But I'd like to piggyback that I also noticed when I "stalled" I was dropping inches. I had one stall where I didn't lose any weight for six weeks but I dropped tons of inches. Don't measure simply by the scale. On the first of the month I would record my weight and measure my entire body. Just keep on keepin' on and it will all happen in time. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hi @@LipstickLady Good to hear that your nose stopped dripping! It is interesting to hear that the nose can warn of getting too full. Yes, it is a great sign! I haven't thrown up for a long time now, but get the runny nose practically every day. Some days are lot worse than others, I hope I am not sensitive to yellow cheese, that I love. Had a nice pork dish today, and I added a tablespoon of Mozzarella to it. Straight after .... bad runny nose with sneezing. And the itching at night, but this is due to my Thyroid. My current song is "I scratch myself ..." sang to the Divinyls tune ..... I will pay more attention to what I eat, drink/do when I get a really bad runny nose and sneezes. Thank you for your reply. Back to soldiering on ..... LOL. "Every time I eat cheese I scratch myself." I also get a runny nose but only if I've eaten a bite too much. My warning sign is a little burp or hiccup. Love it. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App LOL, not the cheese! Yes, I too get burps or hiccups if I eat too much ..... I wrote this silly chorus line to the "I Scratch Myself" ...... Chorus: I need something else, When I eat too much I sneeze and scratch myself oh no I want to stop and tell, Had enough of runny nose, scratching go to hell oh wow oh no, oh wow oh no, not the cheese this is just too much stop it, pretty please! Feel free to add to it ...... You won the Internet today. Thank you so much for this. I honestly think it needs its own post. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I love your BB-8 hat but I love even more that Kathy quoted Yoda!! You look healthy and happy! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

This is what I lost month to month: Date/Weight/Lbs Lost 10/2/14 - 260.8 (start of pre-op diet) 11/1/14 - 247 (13.8) surgery on 11/3/14 12/1/14 - 225.2 (21.8) 1/1/15 - 217.2 (8.6) 2/1/15 - 208.6 (8.6) 3/1/15 - 200.6 (8) 4/1/15 - 194.0 (6.6) 5/1/15 - 188.8 (5.2) 6/1/15 - 183.8 (5) 7/1/15 - 173.8 (10) I did Whole30 6/15 8/1/15 - 172.2 (1.6) 9/1/15 - 169.0 (4.8) 10/1/15 - 167.6 (1.4) 11/1/15 - 166.2 (1.4) 12/1/15 - 163.6 (2.6) 1/1/16 - 161.6 (2) 2/14/16 - 160.0 (GOAL WEIGHT!!!) Just so you know, my weight fluctuated every day. Sometimes it even went up! But I only recorded from month to month to make sure I was getting an accurate trend of my weight loss. I was slow, but steady. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I mentioned before that I was terrified of the darn things --we had one and my mom put the fear of God into me if I ever touched it while it was on the stove. That thing would rattle and hiss like a deranged goose. I bought a pressure cooker a few years ago to 'face my fears' and I ended up selling it in a garage sale, unused, last year. And I need more ideas of things I can cook relatively quickly instead of resorting to carry-out. "Oh geez, the chicken is still frozen , looks like it's House Fried Rice Night!" Looking forward to getting one of these. If you forgot to take chicken out the freezer put it frozen in the IP with some salsa and choose 'Poultry' but add extra time. When done you can shred the chicken and make tacos or salads or taco bowls (my favorite!). I also like to add these convenient bags of pre-chopped red bell pepper/black beans/corn to the frozen chicken to give it a little extra something. Just add some cheese or a dab of sour cream on top. Yum! Experiment and see what you like! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

YES!! My Instant Pot has changed my cooking drastically. I don't really follow recipes but everything I've made has been delicious. I made a pot roast that was the best I've ever made. Instead of 8 hours in the crockpot it was one in the IP. Before my plastic surgery I bought a whole chicken, seasoned it with salt/pepper/garlic powder/Italian seasoning. Then I chopped and sautéed some onion/celery/carrot in the IP and threw the chicken on top and filled about halfway up with Water. Hit the 'Poultry' button, adjusted to 1 hour and walked away. Came back later, took the chicken out and removed the meat from skin and bones (it fell right off). I strained the broth into mason jars for homemade broth and left a bit in the IP. I put it back on sauté and added a bag of frozen mixed veggies and cream of mushroom (normally I make my own but I was pressed for time and making this for hubby) and the shredded chicken. Mixed well and then baked in a casserole dish with raw buttermilk biscuits on top. This was one of my husband's meals while I was out of the house recovering from plastics. For homemade cream of mushroom: Sauté finely diced onion and mushrooms in butter. Add a few sprinkles of flour to form a roux. Add milk or cream until thick consistently. By the way, I used the homemade cream of mushroom with my pot roast. Season London broil with salt and pepper. On sauté mode, add a little olive oil and sear each side of the meat. Remove meat, add chopped onion/celery and sauté until translucent. Add roughly chopped carrots and cubed red potatoes. Place seared meat on top along with cream of mushroom and add 2 cups of beef broth. Hit 'Meat/Stew' and walk away. Optional: When complete, you can remove meat and veggies and use the 'Sauté' feature to reduce your broth to a gravy. You can be patient and keep reducing, add a little cornstarch (I like guar gum), or even add a little red wine if you're feeling frisky. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

So you just popped off to Mexico to have 85% of your stomach cut out and when you hit your goal weight you want instructions on how to stretch it back out? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Get some GENEPRO Protein powder and mix it in broth. I did that when I wanted something warm and savory rather than cold and sweet. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hi @@LipstickLady Good to hear that your nose stopped dripping! It is interesting to hear that the nose can warn of getting too full. Yes, it is a great sign! I haven't thrown up for a long time now, but get the runny nose practically every day. Some days are lot worse than others, I hope I am not sensitive to yellow cheese, that I love. Had a nice pork dish today, and I added a tablespoon of Mozzarella to it. Straight after .... bad runny nose with sneezing. And the itching at night, but this is due to my Thyroid. My current song is "I scratch myself ..." sang to the Divinyls tune ..... I will pay more attention to what I eat, drink/do when I get a really bad runny nose and sneezes. Thank you for your reply. Back to soldiering on ..... LOL. "Every time I eat cheese I scratch myself." I also get a runny nose but only if I've eaten a bite too much. My warning sign is a little burp or hiccup. Love it. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

The pre-op diet is the worst. I was super hungry too! But keep in mind this is a relatively short period and keep your eye on the prize. Each day seems to creep along but surgery will be here before you know it. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Which Premier Protein did you try? It also makes a HUGE difference if you drink it over ice. My favorite flavors are caramel, banana cream and strawberry. I also use vanilla in half a cup of coffee Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

It goes OVER the bra! I don't understand. They're going to pull it down and take everything off anyway. Why bother at all? I at least entertained my husband singing, "I feel pretty, oh so pretty...." from West Side Story. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Meanwhile at my second post op appointment... Nurse: Do you know how to wear this? Kristen: Yes. Nurse: OK. I'll leave you to it. I lied. I really had no clue how to wear it. I got 3 of my 4 drains removed. Hurt like hell for 5 seconds each time. I'll get the last one out on Wednesday or Thursday this week when it is draining less than 20cc. She also told me to start taking breaks from my compression gear to help the Fluid disperse. She said I could walk up to 1/4 mile each day. Yay! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Meanwhile at my second post op appointment... Nurse: Do you know how to wear this? Kristen: Yes. Nurse: OK. I'll leave you to it. I lied. I really had no clue how to wear it. I got 3 of my 4 drains removed. Hurt like hell for 5 seconds each time. I'll get the last one out on Wednesday or Thursday this week when it is draining less than 20cc. She also told me to start taking breaks from my compression gear to help the Fluid disperse. She said I could walk up to 1/4 mile each day. Yay! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

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Pain has been manageable until last night when I took a sip of Water and it went down the wrong pipe. I coughed and thought I would die. I could barely call my husband for help. He brought me a bag of frozen veggies and I fell asleep with it on me. Besides that each day gets easier! I'm drinking lots of Protein drinks and Soup. I ate some turkey today which was yummy. I took another shower today but changing my dressings and getting in new garments completely wears me out. Drains come out Monday! Sooooo ready! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I managed to get some progress pics today. Day 4 post op. Lots of swelling!