Callisto

I totally bought candy I know I don't like - it was hard to make that decision and stick to it!

ME TOO! Today is my one month surgiversary also and I am down 16 pounds, four of which I lost pre-op but I really did not have much of a pre-op diet because I was too close to BMI. SO very slow...it feels like it anyway. I can tell a difference in my clothes. I said the same thing about I could have come this far on my own but the truth is it will come off if we stick to the program. It might be slow and often times I have to remind myself there is no way I can't be losing when the options I choose for eating are drastically different than they used to be and in way smaller quantities. We got this. You all made me feel better about not losing much.

I probably should have done that. That drain coming out was WEIRD feeling. It felt like they were pulling intestines out or something haha.

I told the doctor 120 and he said that was realistic. It is at the very top of what my BMI should be to be out of the over weight range. I do know that my daughter is my height and she is around 100 pounds as was I when I was younger and neither of us looked under weight. Tiny, but not too skinny. But the best I can hope for is getting to a weight that reduces my medical conditions such as my diabetes, especially my blood pressure (I am a walking stroke), sleep apnea, non-alcoholic fatty liver and fingers crossed my feet and back will hurt a lot less!! Whatever THAT weight is - THAT is where I want to be.

Mine is still open a little bit - I am diabetic and so I guess I probably heal slower especially since I have had a difficult time controlling my blood sugar since surgery. I also have a spot in the middle up towards the breast bone that is still "open." I also have a dog bite that is still somewhat open (a little dog but a deep bite). It is driving me nuts that I am not healed because I also want to go into the pool. Mine is closed enough that if I weight trained I would feel comfortable --- I think. All my other incisions are healed up. Hopefully you dont have to have it stitched up. Part of my issue is I was using hydrogen peroxide and that apparently slows the healing process too.

Stage three for me is tuna also but I have had some without an issue. I have been eating an egg that's really finely chopped up with the yolk. Scrambled eggs were a no go. Mostly I am eating my shakes and I will eat some baby food but I don't like the bland taste unless I am really hungry. It has to be something low in sugar and that's hard to find in baby food.

That's really awesome!! If I could pull that off I would. I wonder how much my daughter eats for calories a day cause she is just a tad taller than me at 5' and weighs around 100 pounds plus works out. Just as a curiosity factor. She hasn't had kids tho she's is 25.

Surely height has to be taken into account cause I'm pretty sure i wasn't eating 2,000 calories most days before before surgery. Of course I do not run either.

You know what I tell my daughters? Dating means "practicing" - first practicing being friends and if he is not interested in you as a person then he is not worth it. Second it means practicing good boundaries, establishing what you expect in a relationships such as no drugs or someone who is a hard worker and has a job. Third it means practicing being in a relationship, learning to love the person for who they are (nobody is perfect but you are still setting boundaries), learning how to be in a healthy relationship and weed out the toxicity, learning to argue and communicate ...... finding someone who shares the same religious beliefs, sexual boundaries or openess, who shares the same financial beliefs (hard to find lol). That is what dating someone means...long term dating. In the short term dating means you are weeding out and setting those boundaries (like no foodies and druggies). Look, this is coming from someone who was married THREE times. First time I expected perfection (not going to happen) and I left him, the second one left me because he expected perfection, and the third one I met on plentyoffish dot com and trust me I weeded out a ton of people. If any guy talked about sex (not that I am not an extremely open person) I immediately did not talk to him again. My husband was one the only one of many who showed a great deal of respect towards me and agreed to friends first - so I could learn to trust him. 10 years later - I am still in love and just this morning he said being married has never been easier and I agree. Since this is both our third marriage we have had learned a lot from our past. And another that helped me was that I was single for a period of time. Being a single mother and doing it on my own I found a great deal of independence and learned to love myself and figure out who I am during my time alone. It was good to be able to be strong again once I met my husband. Hang in there, girl, practice and ye shall find the right one.

I know - I had the same thoughts. I would lose the same 30-50 pounds and I can't tell you how many times. I think I was so up and down with my weight that I actually messed my metabolism up and got type 2 diabetes at 35 years old after losing weigh on Atkins and gaining it back. I am sure I was pre-destined to get the diabetes (thanks for the genes, Mom) and stress during that time of my life did not help. I think if you are doing so well that considering surgery is a good tool. You can continue the healthy eating and then have a good tool with your weight loss surgery to help you keep your weight off. Of course, nobody can answer that but you but I am glad you came here to hash it out and think about it with some of us who have been there.

I had a BMI of 37 and all I hear is how I don't weigh enough to get it done. I am 4'11" and was 189 - I am 177 now. What people don't know is how unhealthy my body is. Type 2 diabetic, borderline stroke blood pressure (we have it somewhat controlled now), NASH, sleep apnea. My fatty liver was bad enough 5 years ago that he told me if I did not lose weight I would have damage to my liver in 10 years so really that is was what prompted me to lose weight. It was my GI doctor that suggested I look into weight loss surgery.

I dont know what the original post was but if he said it was the easy way out - he is dead wrong. After my surgery I looked at my husband after vomiting violently right after having surgery on my stomach and told my husband "This is so hard - nobody ever tell me this is the easy way out cause this is the hardest thing I have ever had to go through." They don't get it if they have not been through it. I mean my husband would not say that but I would say that my husband doesnt totally get it either cause it was not his body experiencing the pain. Sorry you had a bad night with the hubby.

What a great topic! I have not even thought about what I would do for myself once I reach goal. Well, one thing that is hard for me now is to hike so it just hit me that maybe my hubby and I can go somewhere and hike somewhere high - it gives me inspiration to keep working out also. Hmmmmmm! Go on a hike with a mink coat?? I like it. lol

Good question. I looked at a calorie counter online that told me how many calories I should be taking in to lose weight. I went through all my paperwork and nutritionist never said how many calories but she sure did school me on WHAT I can and cant eat. Like too much sugar for me does NOT work. I am very sensitive to sugar and losing weight so I try to eat as little sugar as possible so that means what I eat within my calorie range really matters.

I started my period three days after surgery - 2 weeks early and some of it was old blood. And then to top it off I kept spotting up until recently. It has been 18 days since I had surgery. I am glad to hear this is pretty normal. It takes a while to get out of that fog from the anathesia (spelling) and if they gave you morphine like they gave it to me- whew!!! But you might not be getting enough water also. I don't know if you are diabetic but you might want to check your sugar.

I ask what sugar free syrups they have available and that is how I would base my starbucks drink before surgery since I am diabetic too. They could have a sugar free lemonade base but I doubt it - it seems they stick with only main flavors like vanilla.

I am two week out tomorrow and I have not lost any since I have been home from the hospital. The day I went in to the hospital I had already lost 5 pounds from the pre-liquid diet. Then in the hospital I was down 5 more pounds. So now for the last 10 - NO LOSS. I am glad I am not the only one. What have you been eating? or drinking, should I say?

I feel like I must be eating enough because I feel satisfied. Although, what is satisfied after surgery, right? For sure I am having two meal replacements a day and two snacks as well as one "meal" now. A meal would be what I puree and is on my list of acceptable foods. I feel less bloated. I have not been exercising much because my back still hurts a lot. My back hurts on a regular basis anyway because of back problems but any time I have had abdominal surgery it hurts more because I compensate abdominal muscles using my back muscles. I walk around a lot, though. Maybe I am eating too much. I am going to keep going doing what I am doing for at least the next week and then reevaluate, probably putting exercise back in. Weird, huh.

I still have not lost since coming home from the hospital.

Hey, so I think I might feel a little jealous too. Maybe my sleeve should have been cut a little smaller. I feel like I can eat too much and I am just 11 days out. When I say "eat" I mean "drink." The good thing is that I honestly don't feel hungry, it is the head hunger. So even if I don't feel hungry for the last two ounces of my shake - I still finish it. I only had once where I over did it too quickly and that was an issue. I am constantly thinking about what I can puree in a couple of days. I guess the real deal is that when I think of what I will puree for dinner is WAY WAY less than what I would have ate before surgery and hoping that I continue to make better/healthier options a long the way. I dont miss Mountain Dew. I thought that would be hard but I have no desire for it.

I totally feel you. I am a daily weight checker type of person and I was down and then up and down again - it is nerve wracking, we are going to drive ourselves nuts. I am obsessively looking up pureed food. I think when I go back to work it will help me get my mind off my food crush. Breaking up is hard to do, right?

9 days out... I had my surgery on 9/18. I have been lax about posting cause I just have not felt great. The hunger has been minimal except for the first night in the hospital - I felt really hungry that night but much too sick to have been honestly thinking about food. At first I thought I had totally made the wrong decision. I faced my biggest fear of violently vomiting after having abdominal surgery. But honestly, every day has been better than the next. Today was the best I have felt. I don't have to go back to work until Friday technically but I worked about three hours today from the office. I cannot take one more moment sitting in front of the tv. Tomorrow I think I will go to a meeting but I have the option to opt out since they are not expecting me. Tonight, I just feel sore. It does not help that I tripped and caught myself on the edge of the back of the couch right where the drain incision is...OUCH! Ugh, of all places. I have been on liquids and I find myself going back and forth wanting sweet or salty food. I can see how I would get sick of meal replacements of sweet nature very quickly. It takes about an hour to get a cup down. I have been getting my water intake. One in awhile I see a food commercial that makes me crave tacos or PIZZA. My follow up was today and my weight was flittering between 180/179 down from the 189 I was on 9/13 when I had pre-registered. When I went into the hospital I had been on the liquid diet for a day or so and was down to 184. When I got home from the hospital on 9/20 I was 177. I should have never weighed myself because my weight went UP. Sad BUT Understandable since to be at my normal BMI I just have to get down to 120 (my goal) and I do not have a ton of weight to lose and because I have kept myself better hydrated since I have been home from the hospital. Is anyone in our September group from Oklahoma? Whoever tells us this is the easy way out is a liar. No way has this surgery been easy.

I never dream about food. Maybe once when I was on weight watchers and went to bed starving one night many years ago but other than that no. Until the last week. Twice I have had a dream about food. It was so real I could taste it. Once was a hamburger and another was pizza. haha!

My surgery is 9/18 for the sleeve. My boss asked me today about how much time I want off work. Lucky for me, my bosses understand the process of weight loss surgery and so there is no real push to do something I can't do. Also, lucky for me is that I have a lot of leave time and a lot of leeway to make my own schedule. My work ethic in me hates to take time off work but I don't want to work from home if I don't have to also for that week and a half so I can just focus on trying to get myself on the healing track. I am asking for a week and a half off work, then a week and half of paperwork from home and then I will back on the road seeing clients. I am 43 years old and probably don't heal like these young pups. I sure hope I am being realistic about my time off. What are your thoughts?

I have not had surgery yet but I am glad you brought up this topic. About 5 years ago or so I wanted to do WLS and I was denied but my friend went through it. She would call me bawling thinking she made the wrong decision and regretted it and blah blah blah, I mean she truly felt like it was a horrible idea at the time. I was trying hard to keep her on the bright side. 1. I never judged her for how she felt. 2. I knew that later she would feel so much better even though she was telling me DO NOT EVER DO THIS! I am glad I got to hear her bawling her eyes out, you know why??? Because it makes me know that it is going to be ok and grieve this whole process of a life-style change. Sure, you don't want to wallow in pity day after day after day and I am sure you won't either. I imagine you want to share your feelings in a safe place (but online ends up not being a very safe place, at times). Someone mentioned "the funeral phase." RIght? It is like you have to have a freaking McDonalds burial plot. This surgery forces us to bury what we were not able to bury before (for me it will be pizza). Ok, don't judge, but one time I wanted a baby so bad and I got pregnant with the most amazing son a woman can ever have. I remember bawling while puking my guts out during morning sickness saying, "I don't wannnnnnnt to be pregnanntttttt anymore." and my husband said "and you just COULD NOT WAIT TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY, huh." But yeah, I did not really mean it and I felt bad I ever even said that - what I really meant was "I can't wait for this phase to be over." It ended up my son was worth every day of being sick. I know you don't get an awesome son at the end of all this pain BUT you do get your health. Girl, cry all you want and regret it all you want right now...I think later you will see the light at the end of this really tough tunnel. Thanks for being raw and feeling, hormonal, and not puking out fake rays of sunshine. This must not be easy. Many prayers!