Maggie1955

Congrats!

For car trips, I would have a lot of Protein options that are shelf stable, like Jerky and Pork rinds (some people don't like them but they're low carb, and high protein and you can find brands with little fat), and nuts. I would also bring some dried fruit in case you experience blood sugar problems. Also, a cooler packed with pre-made food for whatever stage you are going to be at will help. I would plan extra for your meals on the road so you won't be stuck with bad options.

As I have been reading all comments looks like all will go smoothly with traveling. Good luck on your surgery.

My surgeon said that my qualifying weight submitted to the insurance will the one taken on the first day I saw her on 7.20.17. Hope that helps--but your insurance may be diff!!

I actually had this question too. I don't have a surgery date yet, but I am hoping for the beginning of October. The problem is that we have already paid for a Florida vacation over Thanksgiving. We are traveling by car, but depending on when I am sleeved will only be about 5 weeks out from surgery. Do you all think that would be possible? If not, I will have to put surgery off until December. [emoji53]

You look amazing!!!!

Since you haven't been weighing yourself, it's hard to say whether this is a typical weight fluctuation (likely), or actual gain (unlikely).
Create a plan, and then stick to it. That is the only way you are going to be successful long term post op.
What I do, is I have a marker board in my kitchen. I eat the same thing everyday, and as I eat something on my list, I check it off. (It takes less time for me to do this than to try and remember what I've eaten that day to figure out what I have left..).
My list: (Yours may need to look different)
1 egg
3oz Beans (black, pinto, kidney, etc.)
4oz cottage cheese (I eat full fat usually)
4oz fruit (any type.. mostly berries, and not dried)
1oz salted nuts or seeds
4oz meat or fish
veggies (unlimited non-starchy veggies)
8-16oz coconut Water (for potassium and magnesium)
Vitamins
I also drink about a cup of milk, mixed in with coffee and tea, spread out through the day.
If I'm hungry at the end of the day, there are always veggies that I'm allowed to have. A nice 16oz cup of chamomile helps settle my tummy for bedtime too.
I have no refined sugar or grains on my list. They have no real nutrition for the weight loss phase. My energy levels are steady (and if they dip, it means I need to eat). I don't get bored because the actual meat, fruit, veggies.. they all change each day.
I feel that I can eat this way indefinitely. When there is a birthday or celebration.. I can splurge and eat some cake or whatever. As long as those splurges are only on special occasions, it doesn't interfere with my weekly caloric consumption, and I don't feel restricted.
Living without food-rules got me to 300+ pounds. Some of us simply HAVE to put rules into place! The trick is to sit down and figure up the rules that YOU can live by, and that will also help you meet your nutritional/weight goals. I encourage the use of recipe nutrient calculators to figure out what you need to eat to meet your nutrition goals. It's a lot of work to make a plan.. but after you put the plan in place, your work decreases a LOT.

Take before photos that you can reproduce at your lower weight in the same outfit and poses. Make a video to yourself including all your concerns, goals and expectations. Start a journal and add to it frequently. You can review these whenever you need a pick me up to see how you have come and where you Don't want to ever be again. Also take your measurements and do it every few weeks as you go. You will be surprised to see that while you Don't always loose pounds, you may still lose inches. My body shrank one size while my weight stayed the same over the past few months. Many changes will take place and it is truly a mind game. The very best to you with your journey.

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I'm 5'7" My starting weight was 214. My current weight is 149 I am three months post op! I want to encourage anyone reading this that have doubts... this surgery really really does work. Eat right and work out and the weight will come off!!! I'm so thankful

Getting enough protein: try putting unflavored Protein Powder into your cooked cereals, creamed Soups, as well as getting Protein in shakes. Also, I found that as soon as I was able, I preferred to have a lightly poached egg, rather than scrambled. When the egg was too cooked, it seemed difficult to get down. (That was really early on) No trouble now at 5 months after surgery. tuna and cottage cheese with some capers or olives to give me the salt flavor, and dill, was a favorite in the pureed stage. I was able to tolerate canned chicken before whole chicken.
At almost 6 months, I can pretty much eat anything now, just amount and volume is still very small, which is the whole idea, right? I still try to have protein between meals.

ONEderland! That has to be such an awesome feeling!

Congratulations!!!! You look fantastic! I am close to being your twinsie!!!! 5'3", currently 207, preop.

Today I had an "ah-ha" moment. It took 4 years, but I think I get it! It was triggered by this before photo popping up in my Facebook memories from 5 years ago, (coupled with my most recent post-op photo taken last week, down 120 pounds since surgery in 2013). (attached below)
....And then reading the following quote on a friend's post:
"Maybe the journey isn't so much about becoming anything. Maybe it's about unbecoming everything that isn't you so you can be who you were in the first place."
I've struggled for years since losing the weight after surgery with questions of "is this the 'real' me, or am I just pretending and the 'real' 'fat' me will resurface sooner or later?" "Can people really change long-term?" It felt like the obese, sad, self-hating "me" was a monster waiting just below the surface to re-emerge. Give enough time and the right circumstances, the "real me" monster will rear it's head and I'll find myself back at nearly 300 pounds.
Guys! I get it now! It's not about change. It's not about the "sticking power" of change. It's not about willpower or determination. It's not even about counting carbs, Protein, calories, and ounces of Water. Sure those are tools that help. But it's not about that.
It's about doing the hard emotional work to figure out why I was hiding myself behind 150 excess pounds. It was about allowing myself to have a voice and using it. It was about demanding self-respect and respect from others. It was about leaving behind, painfully as it was in some cases, the toxic people in my life who emotionally damaged me. It was about processing the feelings that I didn't allow myself to feel for 18 years.
Once I realized this, once I did this work, I could little by little shed the layers that hid who I was. I don't hate myself anymore. I'm not even angry at myself for letting myself get to be 300 pounds like I was when my journey started. I realize now that I was coping. I was doing the best I knew how to do at the time. I look at that person in the "before" picture below and I feel compassion because I know she did her best.
I'm able now to let go the "fear" - and trust me, it's a literal fear - of that "real me" monster re-emerging from just below the surface. I can let it go because I realize, this is the real me. It was actually opposite. It was all the hiding I was doing under the emotional eating and the 150 excess pounds that was hiding the "real me."
So I have to on some level disagree with those who say this is a process of change. Sure, you have to change your behavioral choices with food and exercise or none of this will work. But for me it was not "becoming a new person" or "changing" who I am as a person. For me it was about simply allowing myself to feel and allowing myself to return home to who I was before I was hurt and who the universe intends me to be.
Feel free to check out my blog linked in my signature for more of my journey!

Knowledge Is Power
When I first started my sleeve journey which was on Feb 21st 2017, I would compare my weight loss with how others were doing. This is a big no no! It will leave you discouraged and stressed which will only hinder your progress. Have you ever wondered why on the show "The Biggest Loser" someone small who only lost a little weight would win over someone who seemed to lose more? It is called Percentage of Weight Loss. The scale will only give you the baseline numbers to include in a calculation that will give you a guide to how you are doing.
Per my doctors office they are looking for us to be close to the 60% loss of excess body weight at 6 mths out.
How do you calculate your percentage?
You take your current weight - subtract your ideal healthy weight according to the BMI chart - which equal the pounds you need to lose
Then take the current pounds loss and divide it by the pounds you need to lose to get the percentage of weight loss
In other Words:
Current weight - Ideal Weight = Amt Of Pounds to lose
Pounds loss / (divided by) Excess Pound/amt lbs to lose = % of weight loss
Mine (starting weight day of surgery) (not your beginning weight when you started your journey only the weight on surgery day) I am 5'5
These calculations below of mine is what the doctor calculated me at
273 - 162 (ideal BMI weight) = 111 pounds to lose
273- 243 (current weight) = 30 total pounds loss so far
30 / 111 = 0.27 = 27% weight loss (which means I am almost half of the 6 mth goal of 60%)
Now lets say someone who is 5'5 weighs 400lbs and lost 60 pounds in 2 mths the same time it took me to lose 30lbs - Their ideal BMI weight is 174 (like mine)
BMI Goal 29
400 (weight day of surgery) -174 (Ideal Weight) = 226 pounds to lose
400 - 340 (current weight) = 60 lb weight lose
60 / 226 = 0.27% weight loss
Take Me again now with BMI Goal of 29 like the person above
273 - 174 = 99 pounds to lose
273- 243 (current weight) = 30 total pounds loss so far
30 / 99 = 33% weight loss
So you see we both are 5'5, same age, with the same BMI for our height of 29. I lost more percentage wise although person #1 loss 30lbs more than me in the first 2 mths.
This is why it is important not to get hung up on how much more a person has in weight loss than you. There is a calculation factoring in age, height, weight day of surgery, and current weight to get the percentage. No one is identical and our bodies respond differently. Keep your charts of Protein & cal intake and chart your own percentage loss and things you can now do that you weren't able to do before.
Much Love & Blessings
PS. Calculate by what your doctor says is a healthy BMI for you
Helpful Links:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obesity/in-depth/bmi-calculator/itt-20084938
http://www.obesitycoverage.com/weight-loss-surgeries/gastric-sleeve/gastric-sleeves-how-much-weight-will-i-lose

Yes!!! Ditto on this. Think long term. This is what a loss graph 8 years out looks like. All that you hear is 140 lbs lost and think WOW! But this is the truth and the road there!

Keep going....even if it takes you 8 years to get there. Is it SO worth it!

Heather
Banded 2010
Sleeved 2016
140 lbs lost!

Stalls are very frustrating but I don't give them power over me & my healthy decisions. I know we want instant results (myself included) but we didn't get in the situation that lead us to our sleeve journey over night & we will not get out of it over night. Surgery is a wonderful tool to get us to goal but it's not magic. What's worked for me is not obsessing about the scale & the number but rather the way my clothes keep getting smaller & nsv which are also gratifying. Take the time to recognize them & Celebrate them. I get on the scale 2xs/wk to check in but when I'm in a stall I just keep doing what I'm doing & eventually it will show on the scale. My focus is always Protein & I think a protein rich diet changes my body shape/inches & the scale WILL catch up. (FYI.. I'm 9 mos out & 100 lbs lighter). Stalls are common.. don't let that deter you or get you down.. keep making healthy decisions & you will be successful in your journey. Best of luck to you!!

Awesome [emoji122]


Aka_ET

HW-220
Pre-op 194.3
RNY
SD June 16th 2017
CW-186
GW-140
HT 5' 3"
[emoji120][emoji878][emoji1272]

"You may see me struggle but you will never see me quit"

I was sleeved on June 21st and in this short amount of time I've gone from an 18W to a 16, I just had to share this news with one's who understand thanks for listening!!
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Lol I love this post, and I can honestly say I've asked some of these dumb questions myself before I made the decision to do it. I think it's somewhat normal, but doesn't change the fact that it's a pain in the ass to respond to these questions. I still haven't told many people that I'm doing this, so I'm a little nervous just thinking about how I will handle all these questions.

I am not quite 60, but will be 59 shortly. I have lost a total 120 pounds. I lost 42 pounds in the six month lead to my surgery and the rest in the last 5 1/2 months. I have followed the program pretty closely. My activity level has been moderate for the most part. I am able to do cardio, on a recumbent bike or elliptical for 30 minutes, 4 times a week.
I had the sleeve and had a surgical complication which slowed things down in the beginning, but that is long gone. High Blood Pressure and sleep apnea are gone.
I too was worried about being a slow user due to age, but I think that eating per plan, eating low carb and increased activity have helped a lot.

Im going on my last week also abd haven't lost any weight. I have been firm on this but nothing it can become depressing. It will be over soon you can do it

My mom had gastroparesis and she had RNY for it and has done great ever since, 3 yrs out. She went from being about 225 to 130.

The only thing that limits you to only losing 60% of your excess weight is you. I've lost over 100% and am maintaining easily. I eat whatever I want whenever I'm hungry....protein first, then veggies, fruit and whole grains. But I also eat ice cream, desert, bread, alcohol, cake, etc.... just everything in moderation. I do not excercise and I've never tracked or counted or measured my food. I didn't have surgery just to be on a diet the rest of my life. I do make sure I drink at least 64oz of Fluid and I do take my Vitamins (but I've always taken Vitamins, so this is no change)
Other than making much healthier food choices, my life isn't a whole lot different than preop. Unless you count Having a normal BMI, shopping in regular stores for clothes, not being in pain everyday, spending a lot less money on groceries, and being able to hike, climb stairs, etc without getting out of breath, Perhaps I am an anomaly, but I just wanted to let you know that there is more than one way to be successful and postop life does not have to be all that complicated.