Amylou

I love it. Seriously, I'm not a big gym rat but I look forward to my 9 Round workouts!!

Hot and Sour soup is one of my favorites - lots of Protein with the chicken and egg and tofu - very satisfying and flavorful.

Tomato juice or V8 juice - I like spicy things so I'd toss a squirt of Siracha or a few drops of BBQ sauce or burger seasoning in there to make it taste more like food. I also loved the Swanson's Hot and Sour broth.

It DOES get better. The sugar is leaving your body kicking and screaming. Detoxing and shrinking your liver is a grueling process. The first 4 days are rough. However, the reward is great. Hang in there. Follow your plan to the letter. Vent to us on the board. it's hard work but so worth it.

I have no shortage of hair...so I'm not in danger of balding or anything...but the shower drain could use a break (as could my husband who is the one fixing the drain!!).

Being as I have three little kids and we do have the pukes pass thru our house at least once a year, how does that work when you only have a pouch and not a stomach? Can I get a free pass on the stomach virus forever??

4+ Months post op and the shedding just keeps happening... When can I expect this to slow down/stop??

I'm 13 weeks out from surgery today - so far, I've heard zero difference.

My kids are 10, 4 and 2. I was home for 2 weeks in June and their normal lives continued as if I was at work - meaning they all continued in daycare. Mornings and evenings were tricky for my husband as I wasn't driving for the first week but I'd still get up and help him get them all ready and then I'd go back to bed. My mom came over every day to help me during the day and keep me company. My younger two were the ones who didn't understand what was going on - still wanted to crawl all over me and be picked up. After I showed them my tummy - with all the bandages and bruises, they were much more gentle with me. 3 months out, they still don't get why they don't see me eat or why I rarely sit down at the dinner table with them. Someday they will though. I think your kids are old enough to at least help each other if you can't.

You've been thru major surgery on top of coming to grips with a complete lifestyle change and a shift in hormones. Cut yourself some slack...YES you're going to be emotional!!! The good news is you're going to see some major positive changes very soon and that should make the entire emotional roller coaster much easier to ride. At least for me, once I was seeing some NSV's happen in my life, it made the grieving process much easier. Good Luck. You got this!!!

I weened off coffee for the two week pre-op diet and for about the first 2 months post-op...however I'm now back to my coffee with sugar free creamer in the morning - but I drink half of what I used to if not less. The only way my doc is OK with this is because I drink about 100 oz of Water daily and I've promised that if I have any sort of stomach pain at all, I'll stop.

I weigh daily - no clothes, preshower. My nutritionist suggested I put the scale away but I cannot do that. I need to see that number every morning. Celebrate it or curse it, it's part of my day. Either way, it's a motivator to have a good day.

My staples live in my fridge, not the pantry... Premiere Protein Cottage cheese Quark String Cheese eggs Also - Peanut Butter Crystal Light Almonds Tuna

Complications are real...they are...but I think a patients attitude going into surgery can vastly improve the complication slippery slope. You cannot control everything about this procedure. Be patient with yourself. Follow the doctor's orders down to the letter. Do not do what they tell you not to do. Walk. Drink Water. Drink water. Drink water. Walk some more. Nap. Most importantly, think positively. If something feels horribly wrong, then get it checked out but seriously, this is major surgery. You're going to hurt. Life is going to be different afterwards. But SOOOO much better.

So happy to read this update, Niki!!! It's a journey - not a race or a sprint - and there are really really hard parts of the journey, which I think you saw first hand. But you made it thru!! You are experiencing the victory of the pain. So proud of you for sticking it out!!! Head up, girl...it only gets better/easier!!!

Soup. Almost every place has soup. Some places will do Breakfast all day - so a scrambled egg works too. If you can get to a grocery store, you can ask for two slices of deli meat and two slices of cheese and do little wraps. Sashimi from grocery stores with a sushi chef works too - you can sometimes special order things with them. Cottage cheese.

FYI - Women are 2 x more likely to have addiction transfer to alcohol after WLS than men. My mom is a recovering alcoholic and she knows many, many women who had WLS and ended up alcoholic after surgery. Because I know I still have some addiction issues from my food addiction, I am in absolutely no rush to try a drink. I have no desire to go down another addiction to overcome.

Diverticulitus?

I log everything I put into my mouth with MyFitnessPal. Every. Single. Thing. Curious as to what everyone's daily caloric intake number is?

I've had no problem with BBQ sauce - and I use about a tablespoon. Not a ton. The only thing I'd Dumped on was a Boathouse Fruit smoothie - even though it was all natural sugar, it caused a racing heart.

I'm RNY - I eat grilled turkey burgers weekly. No bun. With cheese sometimes. I put BBQ sauce on it because for me, I find the saucier things can be, the easier they slide down. I can't eat an entire burger either - so my 2 year old and I usually share one patty.

I'm 3 months post-op today. I haven't had my first post-op drink yet - but I did have 3-4 sips of my husbands margarita a couple weeks ago and I was feeling it big time - like I didn't think I could drive.

I'm on citalophram - the generic for Celexa. I'm on it due to depression and I have been for many many years. It was not an issue to get approved for WLS at all.

I eat sashimi regularly. I can't eat much - usually 6-8 pieces depending on the size - and I stick to fish - no eel, no octopus, nothing too crazy. I am also careful about how much soy sauce I use as it's so full of sodium that I struggle to catch up with Water later. I've tried a few pieces of a hand roll here and there but yes, the rice is a problem for me and just not worth it. Ahi Poke is an awesome 'starter' at some sushi joints - which is Ahi chopped up in tiny chunks with chili oil and seseme oil drizzled on it. It's awesome and totally OK for us to eat.

I've never been a gym rat but now that I'm down 40 pounds since my surgery, I'm feeling more confident about working out...and the trick for me was I found something I LOVE. I do a circuit training kickboxing workout twice a week that I sincerely look forward to. The other days, I hop on my treadmill or my elliptical for 45 minutes to an hour and watch something on tV at the same time. Do I love that?? Not so much...but I can do it without pain and I feel amazing afterwards. Find something you love. Do some research - try different things - our Community Education offers a ton of recreation for kids and adults...that's an inexpensive way to try out some activities.