deedee

I think I'm going to go in next Tuesday after my 4 month post-op visit. At this kitchen (from what I've read), you plan ahead by marking off the meals you want to make from their monthly menu. They will then have all the ingredients at your station when you come in. It says you can make substitutions/deletions of ingredients and it has very helpful nutrition labels for each meal and side dish available for the month. Once you have prepared your chosen meals, they have the storage containers you need to take it home and freeze it. I believe there is a label you put on each meal with cooking instructions, nutrition info., etc. I'm excited to see how this works. I've definitely learned to eat left overs with the VSG for days on end:-). Each week I'm usually eating off 3-4 "regular" meals total so I think it might work if I only make a couple of these meals per week. My husband eats a regular portion and then I could possibly eat the rest over the next couple of days. I've never minded having the same thing for 2 meals in a day, but I know I have to watch it so I'm also eating a balanced diet. Thanks again for the feedback!

EXCELLENT job!!! I'm right there with you on the clothing addiction. I've sort of always had a problem, but I see it growing worse each weekend.

I know a big part of my mom's issues before surgery was that she was scared for me...complications, death, would I be successful, etc. She didn't phrase it that way, but I know that was a big part of it. For me there was no way I couldn't tell her because I tell everybody pretty much everything, but that's just my style and I understand (especially in my large, very opinionated family) that not everybody is going to agree. But it does really suck when it's your mom who seems to not be on your side. Ultimately it is your body, health, and decision. If it gets to be too much, I suggest being firm and letting her know you are no longer willing to discuss the issue (of course said in a calm voice with a sweet smile:-). Good luck!

Congratulations! What a great way to celebrate the new year. I have never really understood the bougie sizes. You are going to do such a great job!

I've been curious about meal prep kitchens for a while now and wondered if anyone on here has any experience with them? I really want to cut down a bit on the eating out that my husband and I do. I am very conscious about making good food choices when we do it, but you never know all of the ingredients. I was thinking this might be a happy medium??? Here's a link to one in my area Let's Dish! - The healthy, fun, fast way to provide great meals for the whole family!. Any experiences?

Two days before surgery I had to do clear liquid diet. This included sugar free jello and popsicles, but not protein drinks (at least the kind I was using). I would call the surgeon's office in the morning to double check or maybe look back through any handouts they gave you. You are so close now:-)

Sorry, no experience really, I have one tattoo on my back (upper shoulder actually, so not really fatty) and I do not have any lose skin in that area so after 71 lb. loss it's fine. I guess it would depend on your lose skin issues on your arms and the locations of the tattoos. Good luck and I hope more people can chime in.

That's great! You are doing such a wonderful job and should feel very proud. I'm actually quite surprised that over the last couple of weeks a couple of different people actually commented that they were really proud of what I've accomplished so far because they see how hard I have been working at it. I'm loving the positive feedback as well!

Good luck Tracy, Tiff, and Carolyn on making your goals! My goal by Christmas is to have successfully added in a consistent gym workout to my exercise routine (at least 3 days per week).

Great job! I'm hoping to pull off similar feats at the round of holiday get togethers. It seems that when I'm socializing, I don't always remember to chew well enough and/or eat too fast because I'm not focused.

Congratulations on your decision and good luck with your pre-op journey!

This morning at Jazzercise the instructor announced to everyone that I would be trying out in Feb. to be an instructor and invited me to come up front to get a feel for how it would be. I was less than thrilled, feeling tired, bloated, and crampy, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. I'm glad I had the experience. It is different having to do all the routines in a different direction and having people watch you for the way the movements are supposed to be done (it made me a lot more conscious of how I moved and did not allow me to get sloppy). It also reaffirmed how much better shape I need to be in before auditions. There would have been no way that I could have done the routines AND cued the movements today with the headset microphone...I would have been breathing so hard they wouldn't have been able to hear any of the directions:-) The best part actually happened after class. Many people came up to talk with me and I got a lot of positive feedback on both my movements and my weight loss. One lady actually said I was easier to follow than the instructor (it's not true, our instructor is FABULOUS, but it was nice to be told anyway). My weight loss has definitely slowed to a crawl. This week's total weight loss is -1 lb. It was a hard week in the beginning and now I'm on my period, so I guess I am just grateful for any loss.

Yay Judy! I'm so very excited for you...that is great news.

CONGRATULATIONS! That is such a great accomplishment.

Congratulations Tiff!!! A size medium is awesome. I hope you have a fun week next week.

I had a physical this morning with my PCP. I saw him about two weeks before my surgery and briefly explained what I was having done and he hadn't seen me since. At the time he seemed a little skeptical, but was of course professional. Today I was shocked with how supportive he was. We talked for a long time and I told him the lab work I wanted for sure and that my surgeon wanted (vitamin D level was low below surgery) and he actually left for a few minutes to research what else he might want to order due to me having bariatric surgery. This was great because I was self-pay so if he didn't order everything I would have had to pay to get the additional labs done. Another great thing is that on their scale I weighed 164 lbs. I know it doesn't count because it's not the scale I weigh on all the time, but it was great to see that number fully clothed. The nurse who weighed me kept looking at my chart and then back to the scale and then finally I realized that she must be comparing my weight from the end of July (around 230 lbs) with this weight. I smiled and told her I had wls, she chuckled and said "oh." Then she told me how well I've done with it and asked questions about the procedure. I love my sleeve! Lastly, I decided to join the same gym as my husband as a way to do more things together. I only signed up for a month to see how much I actually am able to attend. Right now I can squeeze in a workout before tap class on Mondays, and Fridays after work, and Sundays. Every other day I'm pretty much booked up with Jazzercise although I might try to workout some days before going to class. We'll see.

Weclome to VST! It's a very personal decision, but I'm sure others that were trying to decide between the two will jump in. For me, I was looking between the lapband and the sleeve. The sleeve won out and I couldn't be happier. I was a total carb addict, but knew that I did not want malabsorption (RNY or DS) and decided I needed to work on my addictive personality issues with professional help. The nice thing with the sleeve that I wasn't expecting is that for the first 2.5 months ALL food cravings went away for the most part. Now I'm eating so much less, like with RNY, and if you eat Protein first, there isn't much room for carbs (even if you want them like I do now at times). I think you could be happy with either as long as you are honest with yourself and your needs. Good luck with your decision and journey!

Thank you so much for the kind words. This morning I started my period, which explains a bit of the emotions I have been feeling.

This has been one of the worst weeks I have had post VSG-not related to surgery, just with stress. Due to this stress my eating has not been what it should be (not planned out at all, skipping meals, stopped at Subway twice, lots of peanuts) and although I've managed to keep up with daily exercise, I am just not losing (fluctuating one pound up then one pound down). I've heard and read that stress can cause us to hold onto weight, and I'm sure coupled with poor food/eating habits has not helped in the weight loss department. So today is a new day and the week is not yet over. I took the day off for a physical and plan to hit the grocery store and get back to planning my meals. My husband and I had a heart to heart last night, so I think those issues are pretty much resolved. I hope I'm back on track to meet my next weight loss goal of weighing 165 lbs on my next follow-up visit with my surgeon on 12/2. That's 3-4 pounds I have to shed in 2.5 weeks. I think it's doable, if I just get back on track. On a positive note, I found out yesterday that I passed the movement screening for Jazzercise and can now begin preparing for the audition in February. I was so very excited!

I'm sorry to hear that you are going through this. I hope they get you feeling better really soon.

Way to go Tiff! Spinning has always scared me. It's so great that you are dedicated to your new routine...it's very inspirational.

I think it's perfectly natural to be obsessed with the VSG especially when you are going through your pre-op journey and then post-op when you wonder if you are normal. I am still pretty new as a post-op, but my obsession has started to die down a very little bit. I never did any obsessing at work though because I was/am always so busy, but as long as you are meeting your deadlines, you'll probably be okay. I'm hopeful and excited for you! Have fun reading and looking at pictures!

I'm thinking of you today.

Thinoneday, I am so sorry you're going through this. I wish I had some advice for the pain management, but I can't think of anything. My suggestion would be to go plop your bottom at the doctor's office and/or a physical therapist's place and kindly request a brainstorming session for things to try. They might not get it right (like with the steroids), but they should have some more knowledge of other things to try that are not related to a surgery. I do agree that after wls surgery and you start losing weight, there's a big possibility you will begin to hurt less. I didn't realize how much stress I was putting on my knees when I first started walking (must have gotten use to the knee pain) until I now feel nothing involving pain on my walks. Good luck with finding answers/solutions. I will be thinking about you.

I'm glad to hear everything is going so well. Congratulations!