deedee

Thanks Tiff for your continued friendship, it means a lot. Yep, that's what he was talking about with the blood pressure and increased fluids and continued exercise is what he said would help. I wish you luck with the smoking. Geez, too bad weight loss can't solve all of our problems;-)

You looked beautiful! Congratulations!!!

Ladies, I'm there with you. The only reason I even looked into having wls was because I had to lose weight in order to get pregnant (a decision my husband and I made). I got married at 28 and started trying almost immediately (went off the pill). After a couple months bought a fertility monitor and finally after 1 year went to a fertility specialist. I had all of the tests run and I was not ovulating (knew that) and my cycles varied from 36-90 days (or something like that). I had an open myomectomy in Jan. 2009 (had so many fibroids) and was supposed to go back to the specialist to get assistance in May of 2009, but my husband basically said not at the weight I was at and I understood. I started looking into ways to lose weight and discovered wls was an option for me and took it. I now have friends on their second baby that started trying the same time as we were back in 2007. Three teacher friends have given birth this school year plus my next door neighbor last month. There are four other teachers that are pregnant and two I've been told in confidence (they aren't that far along). My younger cousin announced her unexpected pregnancy this past November and will be having a little boy this summer. Amanda, I hope your husband goes for it. I'm planning to start actively trying next month after I see my surgeon again, but I'm going to try to not get so wrapped up with it like I have in the past (yeah, right) and realize we might need assistance. I wish you both luck!

Do you like to shop? I found shopping for new workout clothes was a good motivator for me. I wanted to wear the cute (or soft) new clothes so I needed to workout so I could wear them. I would leave the tags on them until I was heading out the door so I couldn't just wear them to lounge around in. Also sometimes when I really didn't want to go (especially in the winter months) I would tell myself that if I went I could stop by a store and buy something on the way home...couldn't do too much of this though because it gets really pricey.

Like everyone mentioned, I started walking right away. By one month post-op I was doing 2.5-3 miles pretty easily, but I did not have a full time job at the time so was able to nap when needed. I started doing more heavy cardio (Jazzercise and water aerobics) at 1 month post-op and was fine. By 2 months post-op I was doing it 4-6 days per week. I still didn't have all of my energy back, but I just took rests when needed and went to bed early if need be. Good luck!

You've done incredibly well with the weight loss. Just to give you some perspective...you were sleeved 3 weeks after me and have lost 6 more pounds than I have since the day of my surgery (and I've done a pretty solid exercise routine since 1 month post-op) and both my primary care doctor and my surgeon feel I've lost very quickly so YOU MUST BE DOING AWESOME!!! Congratulations on your loss so far! I'd definitely look into some of the on the go protein options Tiff mentioned. Good luck!

You've gotten good advice. I'd just like to add that I had a "stall" begin 2.5 weeks post-op that lasted around 2 weeks (I think). I had read so much on here and OH, that I wasn't surprised or too disappointed until about day 8 or 9. To top it off I was also having serious trouble with constipation...don't know what bothered me more--the stall or constipation--but things both started moving again around the same time. Good luck!

I hope the nausea gets better for you soon. Glad to hear you are doing okay otherwise.

Congratulations! I'm glad things are going well for you both...can't wait to follow you along the rest of your wl journey.

Congratulations! Just a few days away and you will be on the loser's bench. Let us know how everything goes.

I went to a scheduled doctor's appointment today to discuss my low blood pressure issues. Over the past week my blood pressure had seemed better (101/57), but I kept the appointment because he only works one Saturday a month. The nurse took my bp and it was 96/61. The doctor took it manually and got a very low reading as well and then switched to a different cuff. He told me that because of how small I am now a child's cuff would give me a more accurate reading. With it he said I'm definitely "low," but my pulse rate is slow as well, so he's not concerned like he would be if I had a normal pulse rate. He explained the whole thing in detail, but my eyes glazed over and I just half listened. BUT, the good news is that I'm okay for now. He was also really glad to hear that I was trying to maintain. He didn't say that I shouldn't lose anymore, but if I did, it needed to be at a much slower rate. My husband actually came to this appointment with me and at the end brought up my emotional state. The doctor confirmed that the weight loss is a contributing factor to my state. After more of a discussion though, we decided I would try a low dose of an anti-depressant for a month and then see him again. I won't go into the contributing factors here, but he also wants me to see a psychiatrist. I'm cautious, but a little hopeful that maybe this medicine will help get me in a good place again. I'll be seeing my surgeon on April 1, and will see what he has to say about these issues as well.

I'm sorry Tiff. I completely understand. Just today I was thinking maybe I should try to get to 138 just so I could have a goal again-something to work towards-but when I hit 140 a while ago I knew it was too low for me, and decided to regain a few pounds so I know I should just maintain this weight. This journey is definitely more difficult in ways I never imagined.

Wonderful post...I'm so happy for all you've accomplished. I hope you have a wonderfully relaxing vacation.

Welcome to VST and congratulations on your upcoming date! As it seems you know, life (and eating less) is sooooooo much easier post-sleeve. Good luck on this last part of your pre-op journey!

Thank you for the update...that is great news!

That is wonderful! Shopping in regular stores, makes life so much more fun:-)

Good for you and the gym! I was pretty happy with my skin until I hit about 150 lbs. My worst areas seem to be my inner thighs and tummy. I think my arms have held up the best...they've really started to become defined over the last couple of weeks, although when doing certain aerobic arm movements the skin does slap and make a noise on me where it doesn't on my others in my vicinity. Good luck with it, I think working out can help a lot.

Excellent job with the inches lost! I hope you enjoy your vacation.

My nutritionist's rule was not to use straws. For the first month I followed that, but my water bottle also has a built in straw and I LOVE it. I started using it my second or third month post-op.

So glad you are doing well.

Yep, my goal is to try to maintain between 140-148. When I hit 140, I upped my carbs (not really the best way) and have been maintaining between 143-144 pounds.

On my 1 month pre-op diet (modified Atkins) I tried to keep my carbs below 30 grams per day on the recommendation of my nutritionist. I lost 16 pounds that month. The first 3 months post-op I continued to keep it at 30 or under. I now eat between 30-100 per day and am able to maintain, but know I can go back to low carb if I see a gain.

At 5 weeks out I'd lost 25 pounds and my surgeon and nutritionist said that was a very fast weight loss and were pretty blown away. I'd say you are right on track. My original goal was to lose that much by 2.5 months out, so I was pretty ecstatic. I made it to a normal bmi within 6 months losing at the rate I did. Good luck with continued success.

I had red looking spots all over part of my stomach post-op as well. I noticed it in the hospital and my surgeon said because it didn't itch, it was fine. I think I read somewhere it might be a reaction to something they use on us (cannot for the life of me remember what though). If it itches, I'd definitely call the surgeon's office.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! There is plenty of room...can't wait to have you join us.