Orchids&Dragons

Wow! How inspiring! Congrats and thanks for sharing!

Best wishes for an uneventful surgery and a speedy recovery!

Well, I'm not likely to be the bluebird of happiness here! So far my arms and shoulders have slimmed way down, but the swelling in my legs is as "lovely" as ever. Mind you, I have lost some weight in my legs, fat (I assume), but it hasn't affected the swelling at all. However, getting rid of some of the leg fat has allowed my true-blue varicose veins to come shining thru!

How odd. That was me before the surgery, but I have no problem now.

I don't think people in general look bad at a healthy BMI. I do think many of us look bad for a while when we lose weight rapidly. I feel like the woman in the mirror has aged 20 years! Hopefully, as the body fat has the opportunity to re-"settle", my face will fill out a bit and I will look a bit less like my mother. Not that I didn't love my mother, but . . .

That is awesome! Congrats!

@Dawn Hanaphy Congrats, girl! I see you've moved into One-derland! Woo-hoo!

I get ya! I now have a waist because most of my middle has sunken to my hips!

Don't worry. It's not panic time yet! You probably put on at least 5 pounds of fluid in the hospital, which you had to lose afterwards. You're also still very swollen inside. It can take a month for all the swelling to subside. It will be ok. When I went back to work 8 days after my surgery, my pants were tighter than they had been before the surgery. It just takes some time. But it is depressing, I get that.

@Dontjudgeme Which one is the sweetest?

I'm into head games. Although I weigh nearly every day, the only one that "counts" (gets written down) is Saturday morning. My brain is ok with the fluctuations during the week, but usually comparing one Saturday to the next I'll see a pound or two. Also, write down your measurements once a week. Those almost always go down some, even if the scale isn't cooperating

@okayestmom What beautiful fur babies you've got! They were so lucky to find you!

Congratulations!!!!!!!

That's terrible! Hope all goes well and you have a speedy recovery!

That's great, glad to see you're doing so well. 60 pounds sure does make a difference!

But that means you're almost 1/2 way there! Awesome!

Thanks, but no, it did't help. I can eat soft veggies that way, but no meats, even fish gets stuck if I have more than a couple of bites. Part of my problem is probably not enough saliva (I'm on diuretics) and that makes it even more difficult. Thanks for your suggestion.

I didn't care about the hunger, it was the thirst for me!

Best wishes for an uneventful surgery and a speedy recovery!

Thanks, Fluffy! It's good to see you again! I see my PCP in a month and I will discuss this with her. I'll also discuss it next week with the bariatric coordinator at the hospital to determine my best course of action. I am already avoided spicy or acidic foods because they burn on the way down. And I already do several core-strengthening exercises, so that may be some help. Thanks for your concern and support, I always appreciate your advice!

Thanks, Ash. Yes, it's amazing how sleeping through the night will improve your attitude! Even if one is married to a werewolf!

How are all the other February sleevers doing, 4 months out? Tomorrow is my 4 month surgiversary, down 67# so far. I've never lost 67# at one time before, YAY!!!

One thing to remember when you enter recipes into a tracker is that many of the ingredients can be left off. Other than salt (if you track sodium), most seasonings can be ignored when entering the recipe since they don't contribute enough calories or nutrients to affect the totals. There usually aren't that many "main" ingredients.

You can type the recipe into myfitnesspal and it will break out all the nutrients for you. I just did it with a recipe for overnight oats and it worked great. After you save the recipe, you have to actually enter the meal into your food diary to see the breakdown.

I'm a Crystal Light girl, myself! Peach mango green tea or Cherry Pomogranate! Or else, Chai tea (from tea bag) with Vanilla Premier Protein as the "latte" - delish!