mngreeneyes

@@the sleeved plastic surgeon I walked a 5k in under an hour at 3.5 weeks out, but that is not normal. (I ran a 5k in early April in 43 minutes!) It impressed my surgeon. Just remember to listen to your body since we are all in different places when we have our surgery. I did mine before I had any skeletal issues, ie bad knees, hips, etc. I had diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, but I was pretty active, just couldn't lose the weight. I have friends from support group who will never be able to walk without assistance because they were in much worse shape than I was. It makes a difference as to the kinds and intensity of exercise you can do post-op even after you work out for a while. Start where you are and do what you can, but move! pam

Fear is good. Paralyzing fear is bad. If fear keeps you on your toes so you pay attention and are careful about what and how you eat, it will only help you. Don't let the fear keep you from doing the surgery. I've had a couple of episodes described above. Once for eating too fast. Once for eating the wrong thing. Once for eating roast beef. That was months ago when I was learning what my pouch would handle. It happens, you live with it and you try not to do it again. That's good fear! It keeps you honest. You can do it. pam

I was cleared to do exercise, more than walking, 1 month after surgery. If its a great deal, go for it, but don't do more than walk until you are cleared. You need the time to heal. pam

Best wishes to you! I am impressed that you have kept at it through all the disappointments. You will be glad you did it. pam

Has anyone tried to get their supplements covered by insurance? What does it usually take? I need to remember to ask tonight at WLS Support Group. pam

I will be 6 months out next week and have kept my hair really short, in part because I was thinning on the top to begin with (PCOS). In the last couple of weeks I have noticed it is getting noticeably thinner. I haven't had handfuls of hair, but I do get hair in my hand when I wash it. I am looking forward to when it comes back! pam

@@Ryan TN I did the C25K and used the app. It was very helpful. I am now training for a marathon and following the plan the team uses. We are currently building base and running intervals. Last weekend was rough because of the smoke from the forest fires, but otherwise, its been really great. I have my next 5k in early June and plan to run the whole thing, although its a hilly course so we'll have to see. pam

When I started running in January I would run/walk intervals and be so excited when it came time to walk. I am actually running 4:1 intervals and probably don't really need the walk intervals anymore! pam

I am also 5'5". I was 282 pre-surgery. I ran back then, but wasn't entirely successful. I came close to finishing the couch to 5k several times. I was close to 260 or so when I started this time. I was about 215 when I started training for the marathon in October. Take it slow. Get good shoes. listen to your body. No pain, no gain is not accurate. There is aching and there is pain. know the difference. If you finish a workout and you are aching, that is not a bad thing. If you are running and you have pain, especially sharp pain. Stop. Your body is telling you something. Good luck. pam

Flintstones complete! Its the one specifically recommended by my surgeon's office. I don't like the generics so I stick to the real Flintstones brand. I think its funny because Mom would never pay for the brand name Vitamins when I was a kid, but now I get them at 44! pam

I am a big fan of unjury Protein. I especially like chocolate splendor. You have to order it online, but they have a starter kit as well as being able to buy individual packets as well as tubs. pam

You also may have developed lactose intolerance. I had similar symptoms right after surgery when I ate or drank anything with dairy in it. It was cured really quickly by switching to a lactose free milk. I like Fairlife. I am not 5.5 months out from surgery and I can tolerate dairy again, but only in small amounts. I still drink my fairlife milk with my Protein powder, but I can now tolerate regular yogurt, cheese, and pudding made with regular milk. I hope you figure it out. pam

Perhaps instead of eating when you get a break, you could drink a Protein drink and eat later. If I remember correctly, nausea is a symptom of heat exhaustion and stroke. I use my Protein drinks after I go for a run because it replenishes liquid while giving me carbs and protein. I personally like unjury chocolate Splendor with Fairlife milk. If its cool or cold, it will help lower your body temp at least a little bit. As its gotten warmer, I don't feel much like eating in general, but especially after a run and we havent' even gotten that warm yet in Minnesota so I can only imagine what you are facing. Just a thought. Keep me posted on what you learn. I am training for a marathon this summer and am looking for fueling ideas, especially for the long runs in July and August, which in no way rivals your heat in July and August, but will be plenty warm. thanks, pam

@@Andrea72 Thanks. I am not sure at all what I got myself into, but I'm on my way! I figured out last night that I need to average 13:30 miles or less to beat the bus that picks you up for being too slow. I am averaging 14 min/miles now so I think I can do it by October. Depending on your size, I highly recommend Moving Comfort bras. I like Maia, but I am a D/DD cup even after more than 70 lbs. They have lots of different styles. I knew I liked Maia, and I knew I wanted to run during my honeymoon period so I found a really amazing clearance on maia bras last fall. I got two for less than $15 each! They are bright pink, but they are smaller than what I have since shrunk out of so I have managed not to have to pay full price for any new ones yet. Good luck on your shopping. pam

@@Andrea72 I am 5.5 months out from surgery and I did a crazy thing like you only I went for the FULL marathon! Mine is October 9th. I am training with a group while raising $$ for a cause. One of the nice accountability things is that there are group training runs each Saturday and people of all levels who are training. You might look to see if there is a similar type of training group in your area. I find that the group runs get me up at out of bed better than I do on my own. I get up earlier on Saturdays for the runs than I do to go to work, but I haven't missed one yet and that included the week I had to walk because I was having such bad allergies I coughed all the time. Anyway, the team is a great accountability group. I also know that there are just regular running clubs in my area that train 1-2 times a week. They don't cost anything and also provide a group for motivation if that helps you. I also want to second the get fitted with good running shoes. Make sure they take the time to look at your gate and your arches, etc. I had one running store where the guy who fit me took one look at me and insisted I needed motion control shoes. (for flat footed and people who overpronate). I have high arches and a neutral gate so those shoes were the opposite of what I needed. It messed me up so bad that 2 MRIs, a lumbar puncture, and physical therapy later, my PT, a runner, finally figured out what was causing me so much pain! The only explanation I have come up with was that the guy took one look at me and saw fat woman and assumed I had flat feet. Anyway, shoes will run you $100 or more, but getting fitted correctly will make all the difference and prevent injuries. Good luck! Keep us posted! pam

My gym is at a university. (I work on campus and get a discount). That means that I work out with college students mostly, although there are grad students and faculty/staff as well. I remember being more than a little intimidated as well when I started, especially with all the mirrors they put everywhere! What I realized as I started working out was that although I noted who was around me when I started and ended my workout, I paid very little attention to anyone around me when I was working out. If I, who am worried about other people's reactions to me, fail to notice other people and their workouts, then it is more than likely that other people are not noticing me either! The only people I ever noticed were the squash players because my favorite treadmills overlooked the squash courts and I was fun to try and figure out the rules for squash from what they were doing! It was never about what they looked like as much as it was trying to guess the actual rules. I guess I'm kind of a geek like that. This winter I took a weight lifting class called Women and Weights. We had 1st years all the way to staff members in the class. The fun thing, besides learning to lift weights correctly, was to reaffirm what I had guessed when I was running on the treadmill. All the class members were friendly and willing to partner with me and they were more interested in chatting or their own workout than judging. We all met each other where we were at. You can do it. Use those fears to motivate yourself to show "them" what you can do, but truly I don't believe people are even watching, let alone putting in the effort to judge. And remember, only someone who is insecure themselves would ever dream of commenting. pam

My pediatrician put me on a VERY restrictive diet at 6 years old. I spent the better part of the summer between kindergarten and 1st grade losing 20 pounds! That was 1/3 of my body weight at the time. What did I learn from that experience? That I was fat and something was wrong with me. I spent the next 38 years battling the messages of inadequacy I learned at 6. When I had surgery, I needed to lose 140 pounds to get to a healthy BMI. I am more than halfway there. Could I have lost the weight by being encouraged to be more active instead of focusing on my weight? Probably. Would that have caused as much damage to my self image? probably not. I wasted so many years being a volume and emotional eater and it all started when I was 6. Thanks for sharing. pam

I have started training for a marathon. I had to up my calories a bit because I kept hitting a wall when I worked out. (I am currently only running about 3 miles 5 times a week, but I was still at 800 calories a day.) Now at 1000 calories, I have the energy and I am still losing. I will likely have to adjust that from time to time as my mileage continues to climb. I generally eat a small afternoon snack and then go to the gym about an hour later after work. Then I go home for supper. If I work out in the morning, I drink a Protein shake before I go and the eat a hardboiled egg for Breakfast. Good luck pam

I was up to my normal speed walking almost as soon as I got out of the hospital, although I couldn't go as far and usually took a nap after each walk during the first two weeks. I walked a 5k (3.1 miles) reindeer run 3.5 weeks after surgery and finished in under an hour, which was about the same time I had done a 5k in September. (Surgery was in November). I didn't start running until after January 1 because the holidays got in my way, but I swam laps as soon as they cleared me for the pool at about 4 weeks. The big thing is to listen to your body. There was a run in mid February where my left side near my largest incision started hurting when I ran. (not bad just letting me know it was there) As long as I only walked it was fine, so I didn't run and finished my time walking instead. When I went back a few days later for my next run, it didn't bother me so I ran as planned. I don't know what might have happened if I kept pushing through the pain. Maybe nothing, but I wasn't willing to risk it. Good luck and be patient. pam

So sorry to hear about your wife's choices, but they are hers. I hope you choose to take care of you. That is why you had the surgery in the first place, right? To take care of you. There are relationships of all kinds that change, sometimes drastically because of one of the people in the relationship having the surgery. Friends, family members, etc. But the thing is that we change and sometimes other people can't tolerate that change. Its hard to watch any relationship die, but believe there are better things for you on the other side, including health and self-confidence. My thoughts and prayers go out to you, Take care of yourself, pam

COngrats. That time will go so fast! pam

@@dhutch I understand. I'll be there tomorrow night for the U of M group and I plan to be there on the 18th for the Southdale group, if that helps. Feel free to private message me if you have any questions about the surgery or anything else. I am 5.5 months out , but I can answer or help find answers if you need. You are not going this alone. pam

I have a rant about work that has got me very frustrated right now and I need to vent. I am sorry for everyone reading. I hope this all makes sense. So today was my annual review. I have never had a bad review in my life and this one wasn't "bad" per se. Let me start at the beginning. Until this last July, I had the best boss in the world. She was amazing. She was my boss for the better part of 3 years. They were a rough 3 years at times and she was pretty burned out when she got a different job in July. I was sad to see her go, but know the stress she was under from above and wished her the best. One of the reasons it was such a rough year was that we had a leaderless department. She was my boss, but everyone else in the department is above us. (We are administration in a fundraising dept.) Everything ran down hill and she protected us from a lot, but it fell on her instead. With no leader, there was no one to reign anyone in when they were behaving badly. Then my boss left. All the rest of the crap stayed as it was only now she was gone and we (my officemate and I) were to do our job AND her job. We busted our butts for 5 months doing everything that was thrown at us and then some. WE went so far above and beyond. We kept each other going during the worst times and kept praying for something to change. Two days before my surgery in November our new leader started as well as my bosses replacements. Yes, you read that right. My boss was replaced by two people! At no point during the 5 months did anyone notice or acknowledge that we were holding the department together or even going above and beyond. We were denied any extra compensation for the additional responsibility, except for overtime (union required). I don't do my job for the recognition, but one thank you would have been nice. Usually my review is the only place I know that the people I support have even noticed what I do. My boss let us know throughout the year, but the people I support didn't. Thanks to new boss and new leader, things within the department have started getting better. Today, we had our meetings with new boss about last year's performance review. Because I was out for two weeks immediately after they started and was only in the office for about 3 weeks before the beginning of the new year, they didn't have much to evaluate me on. I acknowledge that. Part of the review process was to get feedback from the 7 fundraisers that I support and the 7 people my coworker supports. NOT ONE of them mentioned what my coworker and I had done during those 5 months not to mention the previous 6 to the beginning of 2015. I got meets expectations on all categories! As though I had just done my duties and nothing more. She did get 1 exceeds expectations rating on something, but I don't know what that was. I asked my new boss what it would have taken to get exceeds expectations in any area of my review. I take pride in my job and in doing what it takes for the team to be successful. I could have done just my job duties and just my 40 hours a week for those 5 months, but we didn't. We were at work early, late, and on weekends to make sure that they had things done on time, well, and they looked good. HIs only answer was that if I completed all my goals for this year, then next year I would get higher ratings. I said, I completed all my goals for last year, what is different? I asked if the months that we had covered for old boss even counted for anything. He said that it was acknowledged that I had met expectations. I pointed out that for the last three years, everytime we went above and beyond the stick moved and that became the new expectation! I asked again what I needed to do to demonstrate going above and beyond in view of what I had done in 2015. He couldn't give me an answer. This has no bearing on my raise as I am union, but it is seen by any department that I interview with for a different job and it just frustrates me that I was killing myself last fall working so much and not only wasn't it appreciated, it wasn't thought of as even being above and beyond. I earned two weeks of comp time and more than 25 hours of overtime during those 5 months in a job that does not generally allow overtime! Okay, vent over. Just feeling a little more underappreciated and my give-a-dam is busted for today! Feel a little better venting. Thanks. pam

@@theantichick I've been places like that, but that was not the case here. The people I work for had simply decided that all the work I/we did was just meeting expectations and nothing more. I wouldn't have been nearly as upset if that was the kind of place I worked. I don't think I would have been this upset if I had gotten even 1 exceeds expectations. I knew I was invisible when I was at my largest, but they sure notice and kick up a storm if I don't meet their expectations, it seems like it should go the other way as well. In the past it has. I looked back at my past reviews and the only one I got all meets expectations was my training/probation review. I was still learning my job! Since then I have had at at least one part of my job that has been exceeds expectations, usually more and I never felt like I went that far above and beyond to earn those. pam

@@LipstickLady I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to look and see what I can find. I taught English, theatre, and writing for more than 8 years. I also have a background in history, although I never taught. Can't have a woman and non coach take the football coach's job. (Sorry, that was snarky)!