Uomograsso

My heaviest weight was 445 lb. When I started dieting in July 2019 prior to surgery I was 427 lbs. My surgen wanted my BMI to be at 50 before surgery. My surgery weight was 335 lbs. Almost at my one year surgivesary and I am around 200 lbs.

Ugh. Yeah, the pain/soreness is a b*itch.
I took pain meds for about 1-2 weeks (*i think*) and yeah, it still really hurt so I can only imagine what it would have felt like to me if I didn't!
First tip: Do not push yourself to do more until you actually can without discomfort. I was a dolt and did to much too early and kept reopening my incisions. Sucked.
Second tip: if you aren't doing so already, cover the incisions with scar tape. It may help to reduce the appearance of the scars, but more importantly, it provides a barrier so that when stuff rubs up against it (clothes, other body parts) it wont hurt as much. I also found that it reduced the feeling of itchiness. I have even read on here that someone tucked panty liners up in their pits for the same effect.
Third tip: Try to keep your arms up higher than your heart (propped up on pillows or whatever) to keep swelling and achiness at bay.
I had a Tummy Tuck and breast lift as well with my arm lift, and the arm lift recovery was by far the worst of them.
But even with all the hassle and pain, I'd do it again in a second.
Good Luck! ❤️

If you like shrimp....even a little....you need to try this, cause these are SO FREAKING GOOD!
You get some raw shrimp, clean it, just the meat. BLOT IT WELL....squeeze, even, to REMOVE MOISTURE.
Half of it, you cut up into chunks.
Half of it, you either mince with a knife or put through a food processor.
You mix both halves together with an egg white and a little corn starch.
Refrigerate for a half an hour, and then form the mixture into patties on waxed paper.
Then, you have two options...
You can either bread it with eggwash and panko, or you can leave it plain. Or, you can split the difference and just sprinkle a little panko on it and not fully bread it.
Season it well....I love Old Bay for this.
Then you fry it. A couple of minutes on each side. You can air fry it, too! Spritz with oil and off you go.
You eat this thing with some lettuce, wassabi, and some tartar sauce.
You can put it in a wrap, or a whole grain bun, or just plain....but make sure you have lettuce, wassabi and tartar sauce.
TONS of protien, low calories, and incredibly tasty.
My husband...who isn't a huge shrimp fan...will eat these like hamburgers and loves them.
Also, you can put the raw patties in the freezer and get them out as needed:)

I have tried several different flavors and my pick is the French vanilla caramels from Bariatricpal. To me the taste the best and are a good value compared to other brands.

Had my 6 month follow up today with the nutritionist, and surgeon (it will be 6 months tomorrow). They were both extremely happy with my success. I was told that I have done exceptionally well thus far, and to keep up the good work. I have lost 76 lbs., and 77% of my body fat!! All my labs came back good, except I am anemic, but have always been. So now I have to take the bariatric Vitamins with 45 mg of Iron. I was told to do was to add in some exercise, just light stuff with the tension bands. Only 15 minutes, 3 days a week, then slowly work my way up. I have fibro, so I have to be careful or I will be in too much pain to do anything at all. I am so happy! My journey is far from over, but I am well on my way to being a healthy, productive, active person. My only regret, if any, is that I wish I had this done 10 yrs. ago.

To answer this...
I don't think it's possible to binge through your entire pantry/freezer in one setting. However, it is possible to graze your way through your day, and depending on what you graze on, you could theoretically get up to 4000 calories. I think the difficulty with maintenance is entirely individual. This is YOUR journey and your own habits/practices dictate the difficulty level. Since COVID lockdown, I noticed that I've reverted back to some old (aka BAD) habits like sweets/baked goods/etc. I'm struggling a little to eliminate those again. It's like crack or something... Fortunately/unfortunately, my husband was recently diagnosed with diabetes and we're getting back on track TOGETHER. So, I guess the point here is that it's easy to revert to old habits. If you have strategies in place to keep yourself on track, maintenance will be much easier. Side note: take advantage of your Bariatric TEAM. Consult your nutritionist as needed. If you need counseling, get it. I'm almost 3 years out and I absolutely cannot eat as much as I could before the sleeve. Can I eat more than I could in the 1st year? Yes, sometimes. That depends on exactly what I'm eating. Some foods fill me up much faster than others, but my typical meal fits on a small dinner plate (like the one you put under your coffee/teacup).

The deadly nighttime munchies. I feel your pain. You're probably not far enough out yet to do this comfortably, but one of my strategies for dealing with the nightime munchies is having veggies on the couch. LOL. The only foods we allow to be eaten in front of the TV are vegetables, now. And I can put together a great plate of them....pepper sticks, baby carrots, sweet tomatoes, crunchy flavorful stuff and I even have a homemade ginger balsamic dressing that is super low calorie to dip. For me, this really helps with the nighttime cravings. But I totally get where you're coming from...it's almost like your body waits until your brain is tired and vulnerable to suggest....hey, by the way, lets eat something really naughty! It's totally frustrating. Been there! Another strategy that helps me...is switching to a different comfort habit. I LOVE a hot deep bath. When I want food at night, I try to take a bath instead and make it even more decadent with a 60 calorie Sugar Free Chocolate pudding (while swearing off other Snacks for the night). At the end of the day is when we need that extra nurturing, that extra love and comfort....it's been a HARD day! Try to find that nurturing and comfort in something that takes the focus off food. Try to find other things to do at night that are satisfying and make you feel warm and fuzzy.

Every doctor/program is different. Here is what mine was. Stage 1 liquids for two weeks. Stage two, purees for two weeks. Stage 3 was soft foods for 2 weeks. Stage 4 was to reintroduce regular foods. For purees I could have refried Beans and ricotta bake. I could eat regular food, but it had to be blended with no chunks. Soft foods could be things like eggs, cottage cheese, etc. Here are some sites I like and use that has recipes for each stage. If you do a search for "bariatric xyz stage" where xyz = liquid or puree or soft you will find lots of information. Just be careful to make sure it fits with your program. If in doubt call your doctor or dietician, that's what they are there for.
https://www.bariatricfoodie.com/recipe-index/
https://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com
https://www.bariatriccookery.com/recipes-2/

Don't be afraid to ask for something for pain if you start feeling it. Every one has a different level of tolerance. You should have been asked on a scale from 1 to 10, what is w comfortable level of pain you cwn tolerate and what level of pain is bad enough to ask for pain medicine. Once you pass your comfort level you need to let them know. Don't chase pain. What that means is ask for pain medication before you think you might need it, because once you do reach that level it will take time for the medicine to kick in.

I had pizza about 2 months after surgery, but I made it with Protein tortilla/wrap rather than regular crust. I could only eat a quarter to a third of it. Now one year out i can have two slices from a small pizza. These are great to make your own pizza with.

I had pizza about 2 months after surgery, but I made it with Protein tortilla/wrap rather than regular crust. I could only eat a quarter to a third of it. Now one year out i can have two slices from a small pizza. These are great to make your own pizza with.

The total you should have to pay is you deductible plus your out of pocket maximum i.e.
$600 deductible + $1200 oop max = $1800
If you have met your deductible, you only need to pay up to your oop maximum, but usually after you have met your deductible, you pay a percentage such as 10% or 20% of any bill until you meet your oop max, i.e.
$12,000 hosp bill × 10% = $1200 which meets your oop max. Any bill after this would be paid 100% by insurance as long as providers are in network.

Great job! What ever weight you can lose now will make your surgery and recovery easier imho.

The total you should have to pay is you deductible plus your out of pocket maximum i.e.
$600 deductible + $1200 oop max = $1800
If you have met your deductible, you only need to pay up to your oop maximum, but usually after you have met your deductible, you pay a percentage such as 10% or 20% of any bill until you meet your oop max, i.e.
$12,000 hosp bill × 10% = $1200 which meets your oop max. Any bill after this would be paid 100% by insurance as long as providers are in network.

I had pizza about 2 months after surgery, but I made it with Protein tortilla/wrap rather than regular crust. I could only eat a quarter to a third of it. Now one year out i can have two slices from a small pizza. These are great to make your own pizza with.

Haven't found this is any grocery store near me yet but looks like a great way to get some Protein in. 20 g protein, 3g fat, 8 g carbs, 140 cal
Oikos PRO Yogurt

What is your win this week or today?

Just out of curiosity today I grabbed a pair of jeans out of the storage closet that I haven’t worn in 13 years, a pair that I never thought I could squeeze into, but they fit! I’m 85 days post op and wore a size 24 or 26 in jeans, this pair is an 18. They are a little more snug than I care for in the waist, but they easily went on, zipped and buttoned, I kinda of like mine a little looser and then add a belt, but they definitely it! This felt like a huge victory for the day, because I was sure they weren’t even going to pull all the way up!

Sounds like you are on the right path. Anything you can do prior to surgery to establish good habits will help you after surgery.

Change up your calorie intake. Take a couple of days to add more calories. If your intake is too low your body enters starvation mode and it is hard to lose weight. You can also try intermittent fasting. I did 8:16 IF and that worked well for me. Also try looking up calorie confusion dieting. Make sure you meet or exceed your Protein and Water goals too.

There is a public diamond mine in Arkansas. Really just a big dirt field in a state park where you can sift for diamonds. There have been some big finds there occasionally.

https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/crater-diamonds-state-park

Having sleeve done feb 18th. Counting the days. Knots come and go in stomach when each days pass.

The 10th going to the pre op tomorrow very excited wish me luck  
Sent from my SM-T387V using BariatricPal mobile app

Welcome & congrats on your surgery.
It used to take me three days to eat 2 scrambled eggs so don’t worry about your portion sizes at this stage. By six months I was almost able to eat a small egg. Still can’t do 2 eggs at 20 months.
My plan was strictly no bread, rice or Pasta cause it swells in your tummy & fills you before you can eat all your Protein. Plus they have very little nutritional value. My advice would be avoid the bread & pasta. Eat your protein first then any vegetables you can manage.
It’s very important to eat slowly. I still eat very slowly. I can take 30 to 60 minutes to eat a meal though my portion sizes are bigger now than they were when I was at your stage. If I eat more quickly my restriction kicks in & there’s no way I can eat any more of my meal.
My Fluid intake is still not great either (strange because I used to drink a lot of Water before surgery). I added water rich fruit as a snack which helped. Watermelon, orange slices, etc. I found it easier to drink tea than water some days. Also I found a good high protein drinking yoghurt which I’d drink over a couple of hours. Room temperature water is easier for me to drink too than cold water.
Good luck.

Just an update a sales rep that remembered me called to let me know my case was approved! Super happy just waiting to hear from my doctors office.
Sent from my SM-G986U using BariatricPal mobile app

I had to switch surgeons after completing my insurance companies requirements because the initial surgeon wasn't part of a "center of excellence." The second surgeon got all my records from the first and submitted them with no problem from the insurance company. Don't worry about losing weight, just make sure you have met the requirements set by your insurance company.