Swampdoggie

I have a charge and I LOVE it. Got it for my birthday a week before surgery. It does help keep me motivated. Between it and MyFitnessPal (they sync), I do pretty well on the tracking and they keep me in line better than before. And yes, I have found that the fitbit helps me to do more - when I'm close to a milestone, I'm more likely than not to do more activity and hit the milestone.

For those of you who smoke a joint to relax to sleep, do you have any grogginess when you wake up? (showing my ignorance, I know.) I currently use tramadol to sleep and while it does help, I can wake up so groggy so I don't use it all the time, and I do have trouble sleeping. Ambien never helped. I used Xanax for a while and that helps too, but my GP doesn't like me to use too much (I have no idea which is considered more "dangerous"). Melatonin is hit or miss. Some of you know I have Lyme and the pain can be intense and intractable. My Lyme dr is a closet advocate of medical use of marijuana (but as a lyme dr he has enough problems with state agencies for his off protocol use of antibiotics so he doesn't mention his POV unless he knows how you'll react). Some of the antibiotics I have to take now cause a lot of nausea and the versions that don't are MUY expensive and not covered by insurance. I've had a prescription for percocet for about 15 years from a back injury. I take it when I need it but can go months at a time not needing it. It can make me nauseated and it itches like crazy (so I have to take a benadryl too). I live in the DC area and once, at the time the beltway sniper was active, I was so nauseated from the percocet and in pain from the ruptured disk I had to pull over and hurl, but all I could think of was I hope this guy doesn't shoot me while I'm barfing into the weeds. I guess I'm trying to get a feel for how marijuana would fit in with different pain levels, ability to sleep and be wide awake the next day, and nausea.

I have trouble with chicken breasts being too dry for me, generally. I have switched to thighs and they are much more tender. Like the other poster, I have cooked them in the crock pot with a couple of the Campbell's Soup Crock Pot sauces when I'm in a half crunch. But if you do this, be careful - some of them are fairly low in carbs - esp if you don't eat the sauce and just use it for the moisture - but some are really high. And of course, they are higher in sodium than you'd normally want. I like to cook from scratch but you don't always have time. Cooked ahead you can use these chickies for lunch.

I watch because I find most of them inspiring. People coming back from the brink, people rediscovering a value in themselves, being able to live a life that has meaning for them. I often think there but for the grace of God... I could never imagine going over 200 lbs, and then over 250 and then as I approached 300 I realized there may be no end unless I had an intervention. I love seeing the changes some of these folks are able to bring about for themselves. I feel sad for Penny and her family but I do understand the grip of that addiction and feeling food is her only solace. Alcoholism runs in my family. My grand father died for it, and I've watched several cousins lose everything- spouse, children, job, houses, and one sweet shy beautiful lost cousin her life to it at 37 - and who want so much to change but cannot. My one cousin knew she was dying and was leaving young children; she cried every day that last summer, and still could not stop, even when she was at deaths very door, found ways somehow to sneak it in. The food addiction is similar in many ways. Any addiction that strong is heartbreaking.

My husband doesn't care, just wants me healthy. Me too. I probably wouldn't get skin removal on my belly, but I would love to get the bat wings clipped. I love beautiful arms and had them for a while in my thirties. My husband tells me I would make a lousy man because I lust after the wrong parts (by lust after, read want for myself )

@@bbaron, I have lyme and also have to take about 20 meds per day. It was quite tough in the beginning and even now I have to do them in batches. I had gotten instructs from my Dr on what I needed to take w/out interruption and what I could put off. Also got some temporary alternatives for the ones that were horse pills. Water in the am makes me nauseated so thst is tough still. G2 Gatorade helped in the beginning to get the stuff down. BUT it does get better. @@agalindo17 good for you. Agree, theres a lot of good info and support here. Also, have you read Alex's book?

I was banded in 2008 and was not successful. I was sleeved in January 2015. In prep for this time I did a lot more support group, additional psych therapy and commitments to myself. I had a lot of fear that I would not be successful with sleeve. I have not had any sugar, bread, Pasta, chips, rice or fruit other than strawberries since surgery and truthfully, I do not crave that stuff, which I consider a miracle, truly. I struggle with the amount I sometimes want to eat, but my tastes have really changed for the better. I know it's still early but I WILL continue to become healthy. It feels incredibly good.

I was banded in 2008. I was sleeved on Jan 19, had the band removed and sleeved in the same operation but I had minimal scar tissue. Dr said mine was easy. That's his usual MO but he has had surgeries where he did has done two separate. M y surgery went well no complications during or after. Hope this info helps. Good luck to you!

I drove short distances the first week. But I didn't have anywhere far to go either

I must be missing something because the posts seemed pretty benign to me. I am 9 weeks out and I have had the occasional (once a week?) diet ginger ale, first probably after 6 weeks, drunk over several hours and over ice. I know it's early but I went cautiously a little at a time. But I seem to have and Iron stomach and have had no food issues at all so I Kay be different from other folks.

@@alswifey wow you look so amazing and gorgeous. Great work. Your arms are killer!

2 weeks for me and the 3rd week at 3/4 time back. But I still needed the occasional day for the next 2 weeks. Not for the pain, but for the tired.

Try full beauty/ one stop plus. They have plus suits but also large regular suits. I think they go down to 12s.

Good for you! I'm sure you're gonna be a success and yeah, its exciting to watch you "emerge" from yourself.

I eat salad, with spinach, not lettuce. I include garbanzos, cheese, hardboiled egg, minced ham or chicken, red peppers cut well, shredded carrots, mushrooms, and crispy onions (not the fried ones). I've had no problem (sleeved 1/19/15). I make a salad of the stuff without the spinach and then add the spinach when Im ready to eat. the mix lasts several meals and this way the spinach doesn't get limp. I eat steamed broccoli and cauliflower and have no problem with those either. FWIW, I started exercising around week with just walking and resistance bands. I'm now doing some aerobics and mini tramp. I'm doing beginner belly dancing for core strengthening - slow and fluid (and I'm HIDEOUS! but it does feel good) I don't currently belong to a gym. I may rejoin later when I'm ready for heavier workouts. I'm feeling good.

Guys, (gals) I really hope your therapy helps. I had a truly terrible set of years and what the other posters have said, esp Inner Surfer Girl are so on. For those on meds and still having trouble, there are many different kinds that help in different ways so if the first one isn't helping, ask for other options. The first one I was on - I think it was Lexapro - made me incredibly sleepy all the time, but worse than that, I felt somehow I was a step behind myself. Which made it scary to drive because I felt my reactions would be a step behind too. I am now on Effexor which has worked well for me. The other thing I'd suggest is to see if you have anything else going on physically. I didn't realize it for 14 years - just thought it was aging and stress and fat - but I had (have) lyme disease and babesiosis, which can also cause depression among many, many other problems. Now after 6 months on IV antibiotics my lyme titres are still very high (though half of what they were last summer), but between that and the weight loss, I am feeling way better. And I'll tell you in all honesty, there were days - weeks - (maybe years) when I could barely get out of bed and I truly didn't care if I didn't wake up. I have a great family, a sweet job, a fabulous team of co workers, a board that things I'm smart, a group of wonderful friends and yet I was MISERABLE. I just couldn't figure out what the hell was wrong with me. What was wrong is that I was sick. Very sick. I tell this history of me (I really don't like to talk about my suicidal ideation) because I hope it will give you hope that things can change, if one thing isn't working, try another, and maybe another. Our bodies are so incredibly complex, it may take time and persistence. My heart really goes out to you because I KNOW how hard it is to be in the middle of it. Keep us apprised.

So after a couple of weeks of weight going up and then steadying, I have lost four pounds this week (on top of losing the 2 I'd gained). Which is great. But, the weird thing is, I have gained THREE inches in my waist during that time. Not TOM because no more TOM, but it seems backward.

I speak pieces and parts of about 6 modern languages and 2 dead ones. I have been told my feet are beautiful (??!). I've been a bad evil stepmother (her words) to my darling stepdaughter for 25 years and wife of a best husband contender. I am in the process of surviving lyme disease undiagnosed for about 15 years. An intuitive told me I have food issues because in a former life I was stranded at sea (hmm, maybe at the time I was fluent in one of those dead languages?)

Yea for you!

Good for you on many counts.

My butt and legs are what I've noticed but have had comments on my face and have changed 3 notches on my wrist fitbit band. NOT losing in my belly. I now have droopy diaper butt syndrome in my pants but my waist still demands a bigger size. But I definitely feel better.

There's so much contradictory info out there. My NUT wants me to eat low fat. I have read some many articles and books about how fat is not the enemy, so long as its healthy and it definitely increases satiety. For me. I strive for Protein first, but I make sure to add in some fat - avocado, nuts, and I tend toward eating higher fat meats, because the low fat is so hard to get down. So my question is whether anyone has tried high and low and had more success with one of the two.

Thanks everyone. Good discussion.

Those are mine too. Plus incredibly weird stomach noises. last night it barked at me. Even startled the dog. @aandisuewho it was as if my story on your post!

Hi Katie from London. I'm only 2 mo out but coming along. I don't crave anything sweet, thankfully, but I do crave a grilled cheeseburger (and a pickle!), though not the bun. I'm not exercising much yet due to an ongoing unrelated illness, but I am looking forward to it when I can. @@katiejm how are you doing one year out? How has the journey been for you?