hermione53

Yep, taking my chewable Iron daily separately from 1000mg Calcium citrate chewables. I'm seeing my surgeon for a checkup soon so I'll ask her. Thanks!

Hi Molly, it's so great that you brought this up. I'm definitely a food addict. At first I had no cravings and I'd say for the most part I still don't. I think this is partly because I am eating very low carb. I'm addicted to starches and sweets so I'm scared of even trying them. However, in the last two weeks I noticed that I'm dealing with head hunger at night. One night I ate like 600 calories after I'd brushed my teeth and gotten into bed. I do so well during the day but the nights are hard. I'm not surprised because I've long been a night eater. A few nights this week I've exercised pretty late at night in an attempt to wear myself out. Lol. I've also enrolled in a mindful eating class to hopefully address this. They'll be using another book, but I recommend this one. It's not really a diet book. It's about eating mindfully and taking care of yourself: http://jeanfain.com/selfcompassiondiet.html

I think this is a great idea, too. I'd thought of sending the staff of my surgeon's office a New Year's card but never did. I need to do something. There was also an amazing nurse in recovery. Need to send her something. Thanks for bringing this up!

Wow. It's cool that your employer lets you put that much into a flex spending account. I'm already close to spending the max of mine ($1,400) this year. I talked to my NUT about my FSA and Vitamins. I think as long as you have one of those letters of medical necessity, you can get the cost of those reimbursed, too. Thanks for the share! Hope you're doing well one month out!

Hello everyone, Where would you/ do you shop for petite non-plus sized clothes? I'm surfing the web looking for some deals! Currently at size 14W. I've often bought Women's Petite sized-clothing from Talbots because I have to dress up for work but I don't know that I'll buy much of their regular petite stuff because it's kind of boring. And I certainly don't want to spend the money if I'm going to be in a size for only a month or so. Hope everyone who was close to surgery when you posted is doing well post-op!

Let's cheer each other up with little non-scale victories! For me this week: Going to put on a white blouse in the morning and realizing that the only bra that fits me is purple. Oooops! Sipping a protein shake through a colleague's birthday lunch in which everyone was eating burgers, fries, onion rings, brownies, and drinking mocktails. I got through it and even had a good time! (but please please don't have them schedule another one anytime soon.) Dashing off to a meeting and actually walking out of a shoe because they're getting too loose. Wearing three outfits I haven't worn in over two years and getting a lot of compliments. Upping my fitbit daily goal to 12,000 steps Being in a room full of people who haven't seen me in about four months and having a few do quick double-takes. People commenting on how they like my new haircut when I've done nothing to change the style. What are little changes that you're noticing?

I forgot to say that I second Racky's recommendation of the Emotional First Aid Kit book. I don't remember that it addresses this kind of deeply emotional stuff, but it's very good particularly when you're pre-op. I'll have to go back to my Kindle app and read it again.

Hi HillaryCatlin, Wow, I have to say thank you for having the courage to bring up this topic. I have a lot of worries about my fat woman identity and whether I'll be able to give it up as a coping mechanism. I've not been much lower than 180 pounds as an adult and even as a late teen. The last time I remember wearing a size 12 was in the 7th or 8th grade. I have not been a thin person since I was about six years old. Who will I be as a thin person? I have no idea and the whole concept is unfathomable to me, particularly because I'm now 47 years old. I'm feeling fine at the weight I'm at now (a little over 200) because I've been up, down, and around this weight many times. I think it's when I lose another 20 pounds that I'll start having to deal with fear and self-sabotage. I have a history of physical and sexual abuse and know that I gained weight as a way to self-soothe and to try to protect myself/ become invisible. I've rarely ever gotten appropriate/ wanted sexual attention from men and the prospect both excites and terrifies me. I've been in therapy since I was 15 so you think I'd have gotten through all of this by now, but even though my abusers (family members) are not in my life right now they continue to live in my head as evidenced by the shitty way I treat myself. Getting the surgery 10 weeks ago has certainly given me hope for the future and lots of motivation. I feel like a significant shift has occurred and I really do believe I can get to those scary lower weights and keep going this time. My lifelong depression has lifted significantly. One thing I've done is joined a 12-week trauma group. This is something I've never done before, but it seems like the right time. The six women in the group have to have a goal for the 12 weeks and everyone has chosen very personal ones. Mine is to be more open to other people and to be more social because I tend to be very isolated. The group is sort of freaking me out right now because it's new, but I think it's going to be good for me. I also have a good therapist and we talk about my fears of becoming thin. I'm not sure where I'm going with all of this except to say I get where you're coming from. I also think the simple fact that you are aware that your fat girl identity has long served a purpose will go a long way in helping you question if the fat girl still serves a purpose. I don't think mine really does anymore. I'm ready to both honor her and slowly let her go. Thank you for sharing your experience. It helped me share mine.

200.8- gained!

I'm trying HFLC (Atkins/ Keto) to see what happens. I'm only 10 weeks out so maybe I shouldn't be doing that, but I was already pretty much doing it anyway, except for the high fats. I just want to make sure that I stay in ketosis and stay away from non-vegetable carbs because starchy foods have always been hard for me to eat in moderation. Today I had 660 calories/ 11 net carbs/ 32 grams of fat/ 73 grams of protein. I've been eating up to 1,100 calories most days, though. I lost 2.5 pounds in week one. I weigh again in the morning. Fingers crossed!

You've had great success! Kudos! I had a lap band revision 7 years after my first band. Totally wish I'd gone with a bypass at the time because I was maintaining an 80 pound loss. But, I went with a new band and gained back about 50 pounds. I gave up for a long while and hesitantly went for a consultation last year. I am now 10 weeks out from sleeve sugery and am totally loving it. This is such a different experience- I cannot recommend a sleeve enough if you decide to go with a surgery. Best of luck to you! It seems like the skills have become habit for you now. Don't underestimate yourself!

Short term disability and FML run concomitantly (at the same time), but are two different things. As your STD limit is being used up, your FML is being used up. Even though the OP used FML and not STD to care for mom, having STD time left does not mean the FML clock hasn't run out. It's complicated. OP, I know you're ready now and waiting totally sucks, but I'd get your STD and FML paperwork ready for surgery the first day that your FML clock starts again in June. Have you discussed this with HR and asked for an exception to be made? It sounds like you had some really unfortunate stuff happen this year. Also, do you have accrued paid time off? I had to have my surgery in two stages (one was the lap band removal). I was out for just a week and applied for neither STD or FML (because you have to use your own sick/ vacation time for the first week before STD kicks in anyway). I think I used vacation time and just my boss and I knew about it. For the second surgery, I took off a month and applied for both STD and FML. Just a word of advice to everybody out there, it's a good idea to elect LTD (Long Term Disability) during open enrollment. It costs extra, but it's not terribly expensive and it's totally worth it if something catastrophic happens. <<end lecture>>.

How long after you reach goal do you have to wait to get your boobs done? I'm currently a 42i and cannot wait to have these puppies done. Some plastic surgeons did a presentation about post-WLS procedures at a support group and they said something about patients having to stabilize at goal for a while (a year? I can't recall what they said). It seemed like you first needed to prove that you wouldn't gain the weight back

I work in HR and yes, it's true, your employer can deny FML if you've already used your allotted time in a year. When did your mom start her treatment and you start using FML? How far are you from the year being up?

I didn't have mine with Dr. Illan, but I did have a band to sleeve conversion if you have any questions about it! I'm so happy I made the switch!

I first drank decaf. Now (10 weeks out), I drink one 8 oz cup of regular coffee every morning without any problems. I think it helps with constipation.

22 pounds in a month is great! Plus you lost so much pre-op! I think I lost only 15 pounds in the first month and it continues to come off day by day. I have a NSV/ SV to share: I went to see my primary care physician on Friday for a physical. When the nurse was entering my stats into the computer, a big error box popped up saying that it was like a 30% change so she needed to reenter my weight. Hee hee what she'd entered was right. We lose weight so fast that even computers get confused! Hang in threre!

I had an unexpected hiatal hernia repair done at the time of my sleeve surgery. I was up and moving around right away, but I found that the pain was more than I expected. I've heard people say that sleeve surgery is easier than gallbladder surgery. In my experience they were pretty similar pain-wise. I stayed on pain meds (Oxycodone) for almost three weeks, I think. However, I did miss doses when I had to drive to an appointment and I just took Aleve. My doctor said that there were a mess of stitches she had to deal with from my second lap-band surgery so maybe I had added pain because of that. Or maybe it's just because I'm older now (47).

Hi La La, I'm still on commercial Protein shakes twice a day (I like Jay Robb whey protein with unsweetened almond milk), but Dr. Matthew Weiner makes a good case for not using them long-term. He provides a more natural recipe here: http://drmatthewweiner.com/a-better-protein-shake/ Hope that helps!

Hi bartval30, It sounds like maybe you'd feel better if you put a pause on this whole surgery thing for a while, perhaps to give yourself a chance to see how much further you can go on your own. Kudos to you for losing as much as you have; that certainly shows a lot of tenacity and commitment on your part. Do you feel like you have a different relationship with food now? I lost 80 pounds preop and then with a lap band, but my fixation on food hadn't changed. Given that and lots of complications, I wound up gaining over 50 pounds back prior to my sleeve surgery. I'm only ten weeks out from surgery, but I attest that this has completely changed my life. I sometimes still deal with head hunger, but I'd say it's decreased by about 80-90%, which has been a huge relief. I understand your worry about losing hair and losing your nice boobs. I'm not at the hair loss stage yet and I worry about it a bit because my hair is thin, but my boobs are awful already (very big for my frame and droopy). I've needed a breast reduction for about 30 years, but I kept telling myself that I needed to reach XXX pounds first. I've started saving money and look forward to a breast reduction/ lifting/ reshaping and all that. I particularly wanted to respond to your concerns about depression. I've been depressed since childhood (was then dysthymic) and have been on antidpressants for 25+ years. You name it, I've been on it without much in the way of great results. I was super depressed when I had the surgery (was actually on a medical leave because of it and the surgeon questioned if we should wait for a while because she said patients tend to become iritable afterwards). I convinced her that I was ready to go for it and I'm glad I did because we wound up cutting my antidepressants way back and after the first month I started feeling great. I feel like the surgery has reset my personality or something. I don't quite know how to explain it and I'm sure the fact that I'm exercising daily is helping a lot. 25 years of therapy has also helped make me ready for this, I think. I just wanted to let you know that I, myself, felt some moodiness at first, but after just a short while I'm feeling very optimistic and have great energy. Life is good. Good luck in making this decision! Only you know what's best for you. :-)

You do look great! I'm wondering (because this topic came up in the support group connected with my surgeon), do you experience a lot of body image issues like thinking you're bigger than you are, still feeling not as attractive as "normal" people and such? I'm only 10 weeks out so still look pretty much the same. I'm wondering what it's like a year out when you've lost as much as you have.

2/24 200.6

I'm nine weeks out and already so low carb that I've been reading a book about Atkins and thinking of starting the induction phase tomorrow. Just thinking about mixing things up a bit. I can do low carb Protein shakes (Jay Robb + unsweetened almond milk) so I'm really only talking about changing dinner and Snacks at this point. Is anybody doing Atkins? If so, how's it going? Do you have any advice? Anybody gotten guidance from their NUT about it? Thanks!

Man, I'm 9 weeks post-op and my only real craving has been for popcorn at the movies! I haven't had any because I'm trying to disconnect the tie of movies and eating. We'll see how long that lasts. Lol.

Kel, Thanks for your reply. How much fat are you eating? :-)