thinoneday

does have to be opti fast? try something else like clk suggested. I love bariatric advantage protein shakes, vanilla you can throw your own creations into, I take extracts in different flavors and add them to the vanilla shake, or a chocolate shake with cherry, strawberry, or banana extract. . . yummmmyyyyy. . . you can add peanut butter (1 tsp only) into the chocolate shake and have a "peanut butter cup" flavored one. . . anything to make these things taste better. . . i don't know how good adding "stuff" into the optifast would be. . . try one and see. . . good luck

To tell you all the truth here, i eat all sorts of nuts. . not many mind you, cause you can only eat so much before they get kinda sickening, but i'm into brazil nuts, peanuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, etc. . . i buy the big tub of mixed nuts and have a handful every now and then. . . it's not going to kill anyone, heavens it's not like your eating it every day by the tubful! Moderation is the key here! Enjoy!

Hey! I've lost a bunch! Check out the other posters tickers! you'd be surprised. . . i've surpassed my 40-60% about 20 lbs ago. . and you know what ! Once again, it's mind over matter. . . if you want to lose the weight, you WILL lose the weight, statistics or not. . .it's how you work this tool that will chose your success not some stupid statistic! Good luck and yes you've made the right choice, the question is ARE you mentally prepared for the task ahead?????? It does take work, it's not easy peasy. . .

You go Girl!!!!! That was well said! I agree with you and if you think that is a bad thing to say, wow I want you as my friend! :confused1:

I don't know if i believe that. . .I had the surgery and haven't had one ounce of depression. . . nothing, I'm actually happier and was more depressed before the surgery. . . so i don't know. . . i'm not going to say "psychological" either cause I have suffered from depression big time, but that was again, before the surgery . . . chow!:001_tongue:

Wow what a fffff ggggg jerk! there are days i really hate people. . hi! I'm so sorry that happened to you, but it's going to happen even after your sleeved so you'll have to keep on recognizing the behavior. . that was excellent! Your on the right track. . . recognition is the first and probably the most important move to recovery! I was hurt big time all the time when i was heavier by men, made to believe i didn't even exist. . now that i've lost a bunch of weight, they try to get my attention, guess what, i do to them what they did to me. . . they are NON EXISTENT! They are nothing but viruses on the butt of life to me now. . the ones who were nice to me i am nice to them. . . but otherwise "what goes around, comes around". . . if your that type of person, just think what fun you'll have when that jerks band fails??? or when he actually sees you and needs your help. . . man, I can just conjure things up right now! PAY BACK TIME!!!!!:001_tongue:

so roboniko, how'd you do? feeling ok? sipping, walking and then walking some more? Sure hope so. . . . chat soon again!

nope, no ulcers here, so now that you have had the surgery, what are they doing about it?

Good for YOU!!!!! You are doing fabulous! Keep up the great work. . . and don't worry about your spelling, most of us here can't spell worth a poo either! So being French has nothing to do with it!:confused1:

The hardest thing i deal with now is finding things to say negatively about the surgery. . there is nothing i could say badly . . . I am so content and happy that it's scarey at times! I love me for the first time in my life. . I can actually do things i couldn't do before and it makes me proud of myself. . good luck:biggrin0:

hehehehe you guys are so funny! Love ya all. . . i love horses too, not edible though, rideable is much more enjoyable!

ozzy, hi and good question! i am 9 months out (Tiffy I'm catching up to you girl!!!) and i have the occasional diet soda. . it's a very very strange feeling though, like it's a big airbubble in there. . . sorta uncomfortable. . i have to de-fizz my soda, pour it into a glass, stir like mad til it goes flat and then drink it. . . yummm. . . if i leave it fizzy, it takes me a VERY long time to drink. . . you'll see, you'll find your own comfort level with soda. . . good luck!

Gayle! Welcome and what a great post as Tiffy mentioned. . .yes please continue to write and post things. . any questions you have and such, know that we're all here for you. . we might not know all the answers but together we'll getter done! You're doing fantastic, it's definately an interesting journey but you're not alone!

Hi Txgirl! In what way are you feeling bad? In the beginning (I was sleeved Dec 29, 2009) i really really really hated my sleeve! Couldn't get over i had actually done that to myself. . talk about buyers remorse, but i eventually got used to the way i had to eat, drink, and change my lifestyle, now i like it and don't have any problems. . . never had problems except for mental issues, but i dealt with those and carried on. . .

Life for me is the same. . I think it's because i'm tall or have a interesting state of mind. . as a fat person i was respected (or maybe i just thought that cause i didn't care) and as a thin person i'm still respected. . .the only one thing i notice that is different is that men act stupid around me now that i'm thinner. . . but of course I ignore them just like they ignored me when i was fat. . .

Your going to do fine. . it's not for the wife, it's for your own health so that you can be there for your wife. Its understandable that spouses can be jealous about the surgery. . they feel "comfortable" with you just how you are and could have feelings that they may "lose" you after you lose the weight. . . or they feel that "now that he's losing weight, I am going to have to work at it too" and that could be a struggle right there! This surgery is definately not the easy way out. . you have to watch what your doing all the time. . you can easily put on a pound or two, just like before. . . you still have to exercise and work at it. . . It'll be ok, it's going to be a bit more tougher for you cause your the guy, just show her love and that your not going to change mentally. . just physically. Where you slim when you two met? This could be a issue too. . maybe some counseling would help? But then again, that may not go over well. . . just a good old heart to heart "honey what is really the issue here?" might work . . . good luck on your surgery! Your going to do fantastic. . . keep us posted! We're all here for you any time you "need" us . . .

being able to clean myself properly being able to get up a flight of stairs without feeling i need extra O2 not sweating profusely when i'm eating actually being able to walk a distance without dreading it fitting on a airplane seat with about 12" left on the seatbelt AFTER buckling it being able to say NO THANK YOU to desserts cause you literally have NO room not being stared at cause you look like a freak blend in with others in a crowd no one cares your there be able to horseback ride again without the fear of killing the horse being able to live life as a healthy active person

excellent job Nikki! You have worked hard and it shows! keep it up

Honey try a 3 1/2 MONTH stall. . . now that is depressing, but know how i deal with it??? as I've written over and over again. . . GET RID OF THE SCALE! THROW THE STUPID THING AWAY! The scale will drive you to drink! and if you can't pull yourself away from the dumb thing, then at least only weigh once a month or so. . . NOT everyday! Try it and see if that doesn't make more sense then killing yourself over no weightloss day after day. . . good luck!!!!

Hi Ann and WELCOME!!!!!! of course your going to be a good member of the forum. Your going to do great right along with us! And before you know it, your going to be giving advice to newbies just like you!!! :biggrin0:

Totally uneducated about any surgery actually! And a drama queen to boot. . . it's probably best she left. . . did you have a nice time regardless? Good. . . people like her are best left alone and to go fume on their own time. . . keep up the good work!:biggrin0:

yes, big time, not the eyebrows so much but the eyeliner was hell! you have to keep the eyes open to do the bottom liner and you can see those 3 little needles jabbing away! they don't put lidocaine cause it's right at the eye. . . yes it does hurt! Could be why i'm not ready for the touch ups. . .:thumbup: Stupid things we do to our bodies huh????? Now i find out that if you have any sort of tatoo, your a potential victim for possible Hep C (yes even if it was clean. . hopefully the ink they used wasn't contaminated). . . ugh life is crazy!

I took 1 1/2 weeks off, don't think i could have handled 6-8 weeks at home! Ugh that would have driven me to drink!:thumbup:

Don't worry about that. . want to know what my success secret was? THROW AWAY THE DAMN SCALES! When we obsess so much over our weight it's like time. . . it never moves! Get rid of that stupid scale! Don't weigh yourself except for 1 x per month. . . it's tough but damnit be tough! Throw away the scale! Good luck!

I totally agree with Tiff, Stacy and Chilo, first off who the hell cares what others think, we are not here losing our weight to please other people or care what they think. . . secondly, you have to work with the sleeve, it's not easy! I don't know where people get off saying its the easy way out. . they are just jealous cause they can't do it. . . stupid a$$es. . .sorry that just gets my goat! (I am a Aries after all hehehe)