hdd55146

Congrats oatmealgirl! Keep up the good work! I love your analogy. That's a good way to think of the sleeve. I have pushed mine too far sometimes and have done a little sliming/vomiting but I'm getting to know what it likes and doesn't like. You're going to be at your 80lb weight loss in no time!!!

Well, today is my one month surgiversary and I'm happy to say I made it! I'm down 36 pounds and am really just starting to feel like myself again. I've had my share of "WTF" moments but all in all, I do not regret, nor would I change the decision I made.
I feel great, I've gotten my life back. I jump up in the morning with so much energy and believe it or not, with just 36 pounds lost, I don't hate the way I look anymore so I can't wait until 80 pounds lost!
I will be honest and tell you that I never expected to do this much work though. This little stomach is like having a baby! You have to take great care regarding what you put in it, you have to feed it every 3 hours, you have to make sure it gets it's liquids, Vitamins, etc. I mean really, it doesn't sound like much but when you can only consume table spoons at a time, this is a full time job! LOL Thankfully, my sleevie is just like her mom was, she's cast iron! I have not thrown up or burped excessively or had heartburn or acid reflux so I know I'm really blessed in this area. But still, this is a newborn baby. It's the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing I think of at night!
All in all, at one month, I'm optimistic and hoping that my exercise and good eating habits don't let me down. I can't wait to be a successful sleever. I guess that's my one fear right now. Patience, I know, and time are my friends.
Thank you for listening.

@@Nikkidoodlebug
I paid for my surgery out of pocket and if you watched me eat tonight, you'd have seen shredded chicken nachos, heavy on the lettuce.
NOW.. realistically, I ate like 3 tortilla chips covered with chicken, cheese, and lettuce. And I ate that because I only get a few bites of food - I am not going to choke down gross crap. And if I want chicken nachos, I will eat the chicken nacho - or two or 3 of them.
Three days ago, I had a piece of my kid's fudge.
About a week ago, I had 4 and a half of my husband's French fries.
At least twice a week, dinner for me used to be a big mac, a large fry, a large diet coke, and a hot fudge sundae - extra hot fudge. Now I've decided that a big mac doesn't deserve the space in Sleevie, diet coke takes up too much room.. so I just have 3 French fries and two bites of hot fudge sundae.
There are some foods that I don't like any more... but there's not that many.
I do my choices the way I do because if I ignore the cravings, they don't go away - they get bigger until I have a lot of trouble controlling the quality and quantity and speed of what I'm eating - and then I hurt and get very sick.
The rest of the time, I'm drinking Protein shakes and eating my lean Protein and my low carb veggies.. and I'm a walking fool.
I'm working my sleeve, and I feel like I'm getting my money's worth.

Wyler's makes a good lemonade and strawberry lemonade. There's Crystal Light, of course. I also like Propel waters and Vitamin waters.

Can't help ya on this one.....got rid of mine when I lost the weight..... pay no attention to me.....I do not belong in here, but I couldn't resist....... but as an added note, I probably coulda used one when I was obese.

Happy to see a few Chicagoland folks here! I'm in NW Indiana, desperately clinging to "Chicago suburb" status.

Really fast ones are Dole strawberry dippers from the frozen food aisle. It's basically a whole strawberry split in four pieces and each piece is dipped in dark chocolate. 60 calories, 4 grams of fat, 6 carbs, 0 Protein. I don't do them often but only when I'm really craving something like a cookie and the protein yogurts don't do it for me.

OK, let's stop fighting and have a drink. First round is on me.

WOW! @ beachgurl84 u sound so disgruntled. My statement was to answer is that why doctor says do not drink. Not to u specifically. And we ALL POST what we think, knowing that none of us are medical professionals. I don't THINK docs are telling their patients not to drink due to brain damage issues. Of course alcohol and sooo many other drugs can cause these and many more sever issues. Do I think that why ur doc says x amount of time and others doc say 6 months, some say 3, some say 6 weeks. No I don't THINK so...
But common sense says we should ALL follow our own doc orders... no one else.
Hope you have calmed down. This forum is to help and everyone provides their opinion. It is NOT to be hostile towards one another since we are all in this together.
Good luck to you.

For me what happens is it either comes right back up, or feels like it's stuck and going to come back up any minute. I usually have to walk around and breathe to help it stay down. It mostly happens when I am not paying attention, taking too big of a bite topped off with not chewing enough. A year out and still learning lol.

@@Countrygrrl
dear speedy gonzales LOL
old habits die hard
but they must die
i used to eat fast, fast too
my "tool" was a shovel
i kept digging myself in a deeper hole
eating too fast???
KNOCK IT OFF!!
eating too fast - its like hurry, hurry keep eating
otherwise someone is gonna grab your plate from underneath you!!
I frequently use a baby utensil when i eat
you can only go so fast when you are using a baby spoon
when i eat my yummy yogurt i have a teeny spoonful
then i take a break - move the plate - and restart
its great
or using regular silverware
taking your fork/spoonful
after you are done chewing
put utensil down for a couple of secs
it DOES work/help - but you have to keep practicing
you know what they say about practice
you can do this
you must
and you will
41 lbs total down pre and post op
that's great
keep up the good work
kathy
congrats

Friday I went in for my one month follow-up with the surgeon following my sleeve gastrectomy on Dec 16th.
I'm down 35 pounds, blood pressure is great. Scars are there, but hardly anything too speak of.
Other than the (sometimes TERRIBLE) Constipation that I have experienced intermittently, my recovery has been fantastic. I'm feeling great, and not being tempted by the food around me.
I've been to a few group support meetings, but none of them really "fit" me. I need to find one in Los Angeles with similarly aged men. The groups I visited were primarily women much older than me, and while the vibe was all positive, I could tell that their needs as "recoverers" were different than mine.
Doc says all systems are go for me, and today I'm going to go to the gym for the first time in almost 2 years. Treadmill and light weights are all I can handle right now, but hoping to accelerate what has already been RAPID loss.
While eating has always been an issue for me, my biggest fear about my new regimen was quitting drinking. For almost 20 years I have been an every day drinker. Not always a ton, but always something. And while I miss the ritual of drinking nightly, I haven't had any physical withdrawals or cravings for alcohol since I stopped drinking during surgery prep. I'm certain that the weight loss so far has been greatly improved by losing all those empty, nightly calories.
Please wish me continued good luck, as I will for you on your journey.

@@hdd55146 happy early birthday to you as well

I was sleeved on Dec 27th 2012 - it was a cold, rainy 2 weeks after surgery, so I didn't get out and walk like my doc told me. I just paced around the house.
On those times when I was disappointed (when I thought I wasn't losing fast enough) I tried to remember how fast I wasn't losing weight before surgery. I tried to remember how (pre-surgery) I would have been ecstatic to lose even 1/2 lb a month, as long as I was going down.
Hope this helps, and try not to compare your weight loss rate to anyone else's. We all lose weight at different rates - genetics, exercise, hormones, and diet all play a part in it.

This is great. My husband is gonna love that I'm a cheap date! Lol

Called my dr. He said I can have coffee now.....thank God. Reunited and it feels so good!

@@hootney1214 I'm 13 days out and I've not lost much either. It's very frustrating. I really want to add some exercise. I don't feel like walking is enough. I just keep telling myself that things will get better. Once we hit the six week mark and can do a variety of exercise (I like zumba and Water aerobics) and can eat other foods I.e. veggies and lean meats, the weight will fall off. We just have to get through the healing phase first.

@ejd1024 too funny! Thanks for the laugh.
I'm going to check with my surgeon. I know he said no strength training until 6 weeks but maybe squats and the likes would be ok before then.

It just felt right

I like the idea of the natural choices like shea butter and tea tree oil.
@blondiebabs did you apply the tea tree oil directly or did it have to be diluted with a base oil?

@@amazon and @@hdd55146 you girls have a great sense if humor. I love it! I was wondering if reverse crunches would help tighten mine. I have started doing them before bed time. My surgery is jan 28th.

The more I read I notice most people back to exercise within 3 weeks. What about sex?

I haven't used anything on my scars and they are teeny tiny. I think my doc did a great job. The worst one in in my belly button so you don't really see it eiher. I already had a scar running from above my belly button all the way down to my pubic area from a previous surgery where I was closed with 5 staples
But my scars from my VSG looks great. I have one on my left side that we put a band aid on cause it was open longer and I have never had any issues with bandaids or latex before. Well the band aids left marks on my skin. And since we put band aids on both ways it now looks like a flower LOL It's kinda cute.

@@hdd55146 I used the advanced Mederma too For day 3 and Vitamin e oil but honestly I don't think it did a darn thing for me but cost me 40 bucks! It was a nice thought though.

So how long did you wait to start doing squats, lunges, etc after surgery? I have a nice size tush and I want to maintain/tone it as much as I can. The hope is to only lose some of it but mostly tone.