Orchids&Dragons

You're good. You won't stretch your sleeve with water. You don't start to feel restriction (generally) until you get to soft foods. Believe me, you'll get it.

2 hours isn't bad!

My drink cut-off was 5 am because of the late surgery. I'll bet they let you drink until 8. Give them a call.

About 1 o'clock the next afternoon. I was so thirsty I didn't even complain about drinking the radioactive stuff. Wasn't half bad if your'e thirsty enough! Not everyone has to do the leak test. Depends on your surgeon.

Congrats on getting your surgery date! On the upside, you won't have a long, uncomfortable evening the first night out. By the time you're settled back in your room, it will pretty much be bed time. My surgery was about 1:30 in the afternoon and the long evening (when I couldn't drink anything) was torture.

I'm a sleeve and was told that the calcium carbonate wouldn't be digested enough because of reduced stomach acid. So we were advised to take calcium citrate. I take TUMS occasionally when my GERD is bad (since I have acid a-plenty) but don't count it toward my calcium supplementation, per my doctor.

First off, congrats on your surgery and the first 26 pounds. That's awesome! For the rest - everyone heals at different rates. You are still very swollen. Many doctors advise their patients not to weigh for the first month because it can be disheartening. So, no, this isn't abnormal, just annoying. Just keep to your plan and it will work.

I'm only 5 months out, but for me, continuing to see a therapist while I'm transitioning is essential. I still have lunch with my best friend nearly every weekend. There's always something on the menu I can order. But, if you really want that scone, order it. Eat 1/4 (You'll be full) and either save the leftovers or walk away knowing that they won't move onto your hips. Just make sure you log the calories. Logging is key. Order the latte without the sugar. Most places have sugar-free options. Or else, just get coffee and bring a vanilla or caramel protein shake to add to it for the "latte" part. You can still enjoy your time with your friends! I promise! Something like Mom's lasagna - just eat the meat sauce & ricotta. Again, you will be full and really, the noodles don't add any flavor! Hope this helps. You can do this!

Kudos to your creativity. It's very elegant! I'm glad this is what you wanted. I was afraid I might come across as critical.

Congratulations!!!!

Very pretty and it looks like you will be the Queen of Documentation! My hat's off to you! Some suggestions: Just for reference, I just went back and looked at my food journal. It isn't unusual for me to have 9-10 food lines per day. This does not include any liquids. If I also needed a line to include liquids that have protein, I'd have about 3-4 more lines. I don't know if you've scanned pages or if this is a template that is adjustable, but I just wanted to let you know.

You may have noticed from my post totals that I am rather a Chatty-Cathy. So my inbox was flooded. Now I've got the setting to one email a day. Much better!

Yes, thank you!

Does it take a while to reset? Because I changed the email and it still shows 405 points.

Last week, my email got locked out of the forums because I couldn't figure out how to stop my BariatricPal messages going to my spam folder. I finally created a new email and attached it to my account, but I've lost all my store points. I'm sure I had over 5000 at the time. Please help me recover my points! Thanks!

How odd, even though I started this thread, I didn't receive any notifications. Maybe they all came when I was locked out of the forums.

One suggestion - this is something I wish I'd known before surgery and would have liked to have tried it to see if it would have helped my weight loss. It's the 30-30-30 rule. Don't drink 30 minutes before, during or after meals. It lets the actual food sit in your stomach longer and maybe gives your "satiety" hormone a chance to kick in. If you decide to have surgery, you'll have to learn to do this anyway and I think it would be a worthwhile experiment.

Congrats on your inspirational success! Thank you for sharing!

I hope everything's all right. Definitely get some measurements now, though. It's common for measurements to go down when the weight loss stalls, so it's another way to track your progress and recognize the changes.

If I were you, I'd double check with the gyno. Bleeding that long could be a sign that the IUD wasn't placed properly or that you got an infection. Any kind of infection could result in swelling. Aside from that, Matt is right. Just because the scale isn't moving doesn't mean you're doing it wrong. How is your digestion doing? Regular bowel movements? You're down a total of 56 pounds, that's awesome. 34 lbs since surgery. You're body is probably just making it's adjustments. Check the tape measure! Good luck!

I like the Protein2o protein waters. They taste like Kool-aid. Not quite as sweet as some of the others, but definitely still sweet. And they don't leave a film in your mouth like Isopure.

Honestly, I don't think anyone should resort to weight-loss surgery unless they have really tried losing without it and been unsuccessful. If you haven't, then definitely give it a try. The statistics say only 5% can lose the weight and maintain, but you may be one of those. However, if you have lost weight many times and regained, research shows that weight-loss surgery is the most successful treatment. There are a great many bariatric diets out there, in addition to Weight Watchers (very balanced), the Mayo Clinic diet and others. If you want to lose without surgery, find one that fits your life and stick to it. Good luck with whatever you choose!

It's real common for the scale and the tape to move independently. So long as you'e getting results somewhere, rejoice!

I live in the land of negative reinforcement. It sucks! Can't wait to move out of the neighborhood!

Yeah, those of us who've done Atkins in the past know that aisle well Yes, they've always been there (or others like them). But like I said, beware of sugar alcohols. Not everyone can tolerate them.