KristenLe

I am flabbergasted too! I guess there are a lot of people still looking for a way to magically lose weight. With a true desire to change our lives for the better, it is easier to stay on plan even in social settings. I went to dinner at a friends home last week and she served homemade lasagna and plated the food. So when we were called to the table and I saw my plate, my mind immediately thought what do I do with this huge serving of yummy lasagna! Well, I sat down, added salad to my plate, passed on the garlic bread and began to eat the meat and cheese layered between the Pasta. Not one person noticed or cared because the conversation was flowing. The hostess knew I had had surgery but didn't want me to feel any different and made my plate the same as the others. I found a way to make it work for me and that is something everyone can do. Just like you at the cocktail party.

14 lbs in 2 1/2 weeks is excellent! Stay with the plan and off the scale!

This is my sweet Chloe girl!
Camping

On a doggie date.

My chocolate lover.

Clean living!


Family photos?

OMG I LOVE HIM HE IS SO CUTE!!! THEY ARE THE BEST DOGS EVER!!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

"Only" lost 14 pounds? In 21/2 weeks? Give yourself a break. That's amazing.
Consider not stepping on the scale so often. Or better yet donate your scale to Goodwill. Our scale is now in the kids bathroom. down stairs and with all boys a biohazard area.

I wish that I was losing weight in my top half as well as you are! My arms are now quite small and any flex has the muscles defined. My calfs look amazing. My thighs could lose just a little. My stomach and chest need to go though! I've got moobs, yep, man boobies and that just ain't right! I know that my "kegerator" won't ever be a six pack without lots of work and plastic surgery but the built-in personal flotation device has got to go!

Sitting at the beach, it's a beautiful day, 70's and not a cloud in the sky! Just sitting here thinking about how great I feel at 4 weeks out. This was absolutely the best decision for me! Loving my life right now!
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@@rolosmom7,
I wouldn't worry too much about calories. Focus on Protein first, meet your Protein goal daily, and meet your fluids goal daily. My NUT has assured me that those two factors play a much bigger role in fat burning than calorie counting.
The full feeling is pretty normal, but I agree with LipstickLady. Don't even eat the bottom half of the bun. Also I found that hamburger and ground meats produce a more full feeling than soft (dark meat) chicken and fish. Try rotisserie chicken dark meat, the thighs are great. Add greek yogurt of a bit of mayo. cheese is another way to get protein in that goes down easy.
I get all my protein in starting with a 30g shake in the morning, then the rest of the day I have things such as cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, yogurt, soft chicken, tuna with mayo, fish, soft cooked veggies, and peanut better.
Here's a fun and yummy thing I discovered for a high protein snack: 1 or 2 tablespoons natural no sugar added Peanut Butter, next to a tablespoon of sugar free preserves (I love the apricot preserves). Use a small spoon to get a bit of both in each little bite. It takes just like a PBJ sandwich!
I also wouldn't worry about a 2 lb gain. Weight can fluctuate quite a bit daily. Keep following the rules and the numbers will start moving again.

To begin with, I am 2 months post op and have had a great recovery. I am one of those people that RARELY get on a scale because I know I will obsess and pretzel brain twist over the number. I don't even own a scale to be honest. Anyway, my husband and I were going to dinner last night...and instead of wearing my usual black stretchy Pallazo Pants or Yoga Pants that I desperately attempt to dress up...I decided to try an old pair of jeans on in order to "gauge" where I am (I have a closet FULL of my "thin" clothes that I could just never get rid of). Much to my amazement, the jeans FIT! They were a size 14...but they fit! And not like "busted can of biscuits" fit, but actually FIT. My ultimate goal is my size 8's that are also collecting dust in there...but dang this was a start! I haven't worn those jeans in over 5 years. I haven't worn ANY jeans in over 5 years. Once I outgrew those...I threw in the towel and gave up. What great motivation....I cried.

[quote name="KristenLe" post="4310390" timestamp="
It's much easier to accomplish this once you're able to eat more and get enough Protein from foods alone. That's not possible for most for a while. I need to supplement. Protein shakes or powder are required. How do you plan to get thru that stage eating only real foods? I'm not being snarky - I'm truly wondering how it can be done?
It's definitely easier when you can ingest solid foots like meats to eat your protein. I bought a $10 blender and proceeded to purée some higher protein vegetables, but mostly legumes. I love split pea Soup, and while I can't jazz It up with ham or bacon yet, I can fire in some cream cheese (an ok source of protein as well as delicious) and melt it all down.
Pea purée and spinach dips and puréed bean soup tastes pretty good with a few cloves of roasted garlic (then puréed of course) and all cooked together in a broth of your choice.
I hope this answers your question. When I transition to more solid foods, I'll add some extra cream cheese and less broth to thicken it up. Once I can tolerate meats again, this problem will correct itself as meat is my most favourite thing to cook, and eat.
While this is all very interesting, it is a distraction from the problem at hand:
How does sugar free Jello help increase protein during post op? puddings? Popsicles?

Me in them? Absolutely not! The "gift" is to men that find the feminine form beautiful. I just so happen to be one of those men.

Definite difference in plus sizes than regular. My lane Bryant size 18 jeans are too big (I can pull them on and off without undoing them). But my Eddie Bower size 18 jeans are too tight...cameltoe tight so can't do them yet. I love my ponte pants from lane Bryant because they are like a dressy yoga pant and fit me now and will still fit me if I lose 15lbs

If you need your clothes to look good for professional purposes, then probably I would agree to go buy a pair or two of dress pants to tide you over to the next size drop. If it's casual wear, then I definitely would not buy much stuff and just deal with stuff fitting loose for a while. But that's me and I worked from home and did have a variety of different types of pants to wear already that didn't start looking silly on my for some time.
But do not buy anything expensive if you can help it. You'll be dropping weight/sizes every other month depending, so it will be a waste of money if it's the more expensive stuff.
I love shopping at thrift stores - Goodwill, Salvation Army, local church-run shops - and if you figure out where the larger sized clothing is plentiful, you'll likely have a better selection.
I can shop in regular stores now, but I still like thrift stores because I find really nice things (lots of name brands, some brand new with tags!) for cheap. And you can try on a variety of brands sometime and discover that maybe a different brand fits your body type better without having to go to 10 different places to try them on.
And congrats on your loss so far!

Soooo.... I am one month preop today and down 48lbs. Woot!
Multiple people have commented that I need new pants. My pants look like they are wide leg jeans (not) and that I in them (double not).
Like most of you, I am sure, I have a wide range of sizes in my closet... but while I am losing weight in my butt and thighs, I havent really lost anything around my waist allowing me to go down in size.
WTF body? How do you guys deal? Should I rock the baggy ass or move to a smaller size and use the hairtie trick?
Also, has anyone else noticed differences it plus size sizes in plus size brands? Fashion bug size 26 jeans are still too tight, but I can wear size 22 Lane Bryant jeans (with a slight pinch at the waist).
HW 385 SW 359 CW 338 Sleeved 10/5/16

???? I'm finally home! I hate to say it but first few days were way worse than expected and I was well prepared. The nausea was worse than the pain. Wrenching does not feel good 24 hours post-op. :-(. I thought I blow my staples. Today I was well enough to be discharged. Haven't been on pain meds since yesterday morning. I think Chewbacca is living in my stomach though because I can hear him roaring Everytime I open my mouth.

@@megnun21 I'll be 2 weeks out tomorrow. I'm not even bothering tracking weight loss at this point - we had a lot of swelling and Water retention from the IVs and weight can fluctuate up and down drastically during this time. Concentrate on getting plenty of fluids (at least 64 ozs) and meeting your Protein goals. Don't restrict foods - eat as your plan suggests! There's no way to compare your progress with anyone else. We all lose at different rates - and have different amounts to lose. Just keep doing what you're supposed to be doing - the weight will come off. It's not a race.

It's much easier to accomplish this once you're able to eat more and get enough Protein from foods alone. That's not possible for most for a while. I need to supplement. Protein shakes or powder are required. How do you plan to get thru that stage eating only real foods? I'm not being snarky - I'm truly wondering how it can be done?

@@AudreyDarling Smoking is a very difficult addiction to quit - even for a grandchild! I never heard second hand smoke could cause a leak. I would question that and make sure you aren't in same room. Stress can cause harm too - so be sure to stay calm and do what you need to do for your health.

Started my two week liquid diet yesterday. Purchased a bunch of different types of the recommended Protein shakes.
Don't be like me ...
Have 48 bottles of a shake that tastes awful to me ... luckily I have others that are palatable to mix in with less than great.
So, yeah, test them flavors out before you buy in bulk!
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So true!!! They're awful! I have spent so much $ on gross vitamins! ????

that's what I was thinking to which was why I suggested the stevia sweetened Protein powders but I believe unflavored Protein Powder like Isopure whey isolate has no sugar or sweeteners in it but so far, I personally think it taste horrible in at least Tomato soup...

Are you taking a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) like omeprazole? That feeling could be related to acid reflux and I know my doc had me take a PPI for the first 6 weeks to help cut down on the burning/bubble feelings.
I know I got the mild lactose intolerance for about 6 months (mostly just upset my stomach and had mild diarrhea), and do recall things tasting too sweet and the sense of smell being stronger too.
It might also be a stricture, but I have no experience with that, and I would think your doctor would check for that at your appointments.

I had my husband hide the scales. My first f/u appt with my surgeon is the 17th. That's when I'll get weighed. It will drive me bonkers but so will my obsession with thinking I need to weight every day.

Good morning Y'all.
I love this thread! my best NSV this week was putting on one of my husbands sweatshirts and having it be big and baggy!!! it actually fit like a husband's shirt is supposed to! lol... made me feel like a tiny little wife!
keep up the good work all!!!

It's been a long time since I've been on bariatricpal.com and I've missed it. My life changed drastically on 6/20/2016 when my mother had a large right sided hemorrhagic stroke. My life was the hospital ICU, acute rehab hospital and finally the subacute rehab. She didn't come home until the end of September and then had a setback where her vitals were so low she had to be readmitted to the hospital for 3 days and then do another week at the subacute rehab. She finally came home on 10/2. My stress levels haven't gotten any better since her coming home. I'm thrilled she is home, but she cannot be left alone. This means we have a home health aide for 11 hours a day, from 6AM to 5PM....while I am at work. Medicare and her private health insurance pay for none of it. We've had to modify the house, and stairlifts are also not covered.
Luckily mom is a fighter and just turned 67. She had the gastric sleeve in March and thank goodness she lost weight because her stroke recovery would be so much harder for her and me. I like to say she is full of piss and vinegar. She is DETERMINED to walk again and I know she will do it. Unfortunately she's very impatient and I have to remind her of her "gains" even though they may be small, every day. She's done SO WELL since June it really is amazing. In the life of a stroke 4 months isn't a lot and there is so much she can do on her own that I'm amazed.
As for me - I had my gastric sleeve surgery in August of 2015. I am SO THANKFUL I did because if I was 295lbs there is no way I would have survived the last four months. I would not have had the stamina or the strength. Weekdays I am up at 5AM and out the door at 6. When I get home I am constantly running around, up and down stairs, etc....trying to get laundry done in between a million other things. Transferring her from the wheelchair to the chair, or the chair to her bed is also serious exercise. On top of it I decided to go back and pursue my bachelors degree. I must be crazy! I had signed up before she had the stroke and I only have 11 classes to get my degree. Luckily I was able to switch to online courses and have already completed one. I had homework due by 11:59PM and it just happened to be on the night she was taken to the ER and I actually logged on from the "cubby" we were in while she was resting. I kid you not, less then 3 feet away from me in the other "cubby" a guy was getting a rectal exam. All that separated me from them was the curtain. I guess you do what you have to do! I submitted the last assignment at 11:45PM. She finally went up to a room around 12:30.
My weight has been semi-stable during this time. At first I couldn't eat....just couldn't hold anything down. Then I wanted everything that was bad for me. Then I realized that wasn't making me feel any better so I had better stop. I'm not going to lie, I pretty much existed on Decaf iced coffee, egg & cheese on english muffin from Dunkin Donuts, and Protein bars. I know it's not the greatest but it was all I could muster. I was getting up at 5AM and not getting home some nights until 10...and I still had stuff to get done at home.
Right now I'm 175. People say I'm thin enough. I have some loose skin on my stomach but it's no so terrible that I can't hide it and I have some loose skin on my thighs and upper arms. It's not enough to make me NOT wear a bathing suit or a sleeveless shirt. I feel good, and clothes fit well. I would like to get down to 165 but if that doesn't happen that's ok too. I'm comfortable where I am. I know if I had skin removal surgery it would probably get me there or close to it. That's probably not in the cards for me right now. Don't know if it will ever be.

I see my PCP next Tuesday. I am also going to see a therapist next Wednesday. I had to ask my PCP for something to help me with my anxiety and depression. I have cried every day since 6/20, sometimes several times a day. I know that's not healthy. I'm taking an anti-depressant, but I've only been on it since 10/25...and it takes about a month to come up to it's full effect. I hope it helps. I'm also taking .5mg of clonazepam for the anxiety in the morning and at bedtime. It's not a lot, but it's enough to keep me steady. I hate having to take those medications, but I need them right now. Some day I won't hopefully.
I know this is a long post - if you made it this far thanks! The one thing I need to make time for again is my monthly meeting at my bariatric center. I have only been to one meeting and that was in October. It was a celebration of everyone who had done well and had surgery the year before. I wore a lovely black dress and "big girl" shoes. I felt wonderful. I need to make the time to get back to my meetings because they are important and they keep me grounded. I'll figure out a way.
Margie