Lee

Lan, I'm so excited with your progress. I know you've had a rough time of it, but with goal in your sights, you must be so excited!

Tamra, I eat anything for breakfast that I would eat for lunch or dinner. I suggest finding the meals that please you the most (from the binder) and stick with those. Protein first so that you don't get hungry between meals. John, one good potty break... haha... I can't stay outa there. Have your runs subsided? I'm glad I'm working from home because I'd be afraid to leave home. I'm a big mess!

I'm a week out from surgery with a 40f. I'm doing great and didn't have any nausea after the first few hours. I expect to do as well as anyone with a 32. The Sleeve is my tool. What I do with it is up to me.

Thanks Cajun! Are you getting closer to Onederland, or is that scale still messing with you? :confused1:

John, I knew you'd kick my bootie! Congrats on a great week! :wink: My only soreness is around the biggest incision on my waistline. I coughed all last night and it didn't make me cry so things must be healing in there. I don't even want to know the tools they were digging around in there with! :eek:

Tina, I'm so sorry this journey has been such a struggle for you. I hope that you and Dr. Baggs work out something that will help you. I didn't sleep well last night. Nagging little cough in the back of my throat. I got up at 5am and dumped all the leftover flowers in the house, just in case it was the pollen irritating my throat. I felt like I was up every hour to drink water. Good news is that I kept in 1/2 cup of tomato soup last night. No runs until morning. John, do you sometimes feel like there are fingers wrapped around your Sleeve, squeezing it? It passes fairly quickly but is disconcerting when it happens every 30 minutes or so. I guess it's a spasm. Ok John, so post your first week loss and let me get jealous as all get out. I went from 228.8 to 221.4 for a loss of 7.4 for the week. I'm thrilled. So happy, so excited and almost out of the 220's. I never expected it to happen so quickly. Have a fun day everyone!

Thanks Mini! :confused1:

Hello Team, I finished my first week! I've had food challenges as moving to full liquids gave me the runs. Hopefully this will get better. The big incision isn't causing me near as much pain as it was a few days ago! My fevers have subsided. My sore throat finally cleared up yesterday. Each day shows more improvement. I started back to work yesterday. I'm working from home for a week. I carefully count my carbs and I haven't felt a moments hunger this week. Best of all...... a loss of 7.4 pounds this week. How cool is that? I don't know what's "normal" because I don't think there's a normal because we're all so different, but for me this rocks. I'm a slow loser but this week I feel like a champ. I can't believe that I'm almost out of the 220's! YAY!

Coopersmama, how awesome to read this first thing this morning. YAY YAY YAY!!!

Hi Beatriz! I remember meeting you at one of the Wednesday night meetings at Kaiser.

Pat, your food looks so yummy today! And your exercise, just awesome!!

Hi Everyone, You all sound terrific!! Congrats to those that are feeling back on track today. What winners we have among us. I wiped out today. I napped from 3:30 to 5:30 so I'm working tonight. I think I just hit a wall and needed to sleep. Food is still not much of a friend to me. Had the runs all morning. Kept down a little Trader Joe's Creamy Tomato Soup tonight and loved it. Now back to clears for me. I've gotten in 64 oz today and still thirsty. I had to throw out tons of flowers tonight. It was starting to smell like a funeral home in here. All in all, doing great. Coco, would love the tracksuit!

My trick to lower carbs in the shakes is to use unsweetened soy milk (love trader joe's organic) which is only 3 carbs per 8 oz. That really lowers the carbs since milk is fairly high. Greek Yogurt will be a staple of mine at (Fage) 9 carbs per 20 Protein in a cup. I try to use low carb Protein powder, but I'm just a week out so we'll see how it goes. I think I'll probably wait on fruit until I've gotten most of my weight off.

Tamra, Why are you doing this to your pouch? Why do things that you fear are not good for you? If you have to ask, you already suspect that you're doing wrong. May I suggest you back off from Panda Express. We're taught to use a measuring cup because of the difference in weight/volume of food. Have you tried measuring? Are you at the one cup per meal stage now? Have you considered the classes at Kaiser to help you get a handle on compulsive eating? For me, the best tools that I learned were in Overeater's Anonymous, which is free. It helped understand what compulsive eating is and how to live on a food plan. I'm going to be very bold here and suggest you get a handle on this now before it's too late. For all of us, I think it's really important to learn good eating habits right out of surgery to help with a lifetime of success.

Hi Swish! John, pouring rain here. Food is not my friend, even in 1/4 cup increments. I've had nothing but the runs since last night. I'm backstepping to clear liquids for today. I have zero hunger at this point. I'll come clobber you if you've lost 10 pounds. I bet I lose 5 for your every 10. Grrrrr..... MEN!

Good Morning, Candra, I'm so sorry to read about your headaches. Do you put your hands and feet in hot water to draw the blood from your head? I had migraines for 10 years from 7-17 yrs old. They suck! The food may be making it worse. Your body may need to be doing fluids to get rid of toxins. Any idea what triggers the headaches? For me it was always stress. I hope you go to Kaiser and get an injection so that you can rest and recovery. Pat, loved the bra story. Tamra, YAY in being back on track. We're too early out to get off track if we want to hit our goals. John, Last night had the worst diarrhea so I think my body is flushing out the surgery toxins. I think my fever broke in the night and my sore throat is gone. My son left at 6am and I got to sleep a few hours after that. This morning I'm officially back on the clock at work. I'm working from home until next Tuesday afternoon so that I can take breaks as needed. Thank goodness it's just computer work for the most part.

I'm sitting here laughing about your scale teasing you Cajun. The fun is in knowing that it will go down and when it does, you'll never see 200 again. Hang in there and find humor in the situation. You deserve to laugh and play on this journey! You have done wonderfully!

Oh yeah, I get to finally post here as a post-op! *dancing around the room* HW - 249 SW - 228.8 Today - 225.4 I'm so happy to see the scale go down. I hope I don't get into comparing myself to others and their progress!

Hello Everyone, I just woke up from a two hour nap that felt great. I went out for a walk this afternoon but didn't get that far because my big incision just pulls and burns so badly when I'm walking. I'm going out again to walk when Zach wakes up. Tamra, I was on antibiotics for my sore throat pre-op so I'm concerned this isn't just post-op tube stuff. My doc is going to see me and xray my chest tomorrow if I'm not starting to feel better. Food today has been good. Drinking a 15 calorie cup of organic chicken broth right now to soothe my throat. Probably 1/3 cup protein pudding or soup for dinner. I'm getting in over 50 oz fluids and over 50 grms protein so doing well. I love cream of rice and cream of wheat but don't want the carbs without the protein. Have a fun evening everyone!

Sarah, you are rocking your weight loss!!! I am so jealous. Hang in there, each day seems to be a little better. Hey, would you change your surgery date in your signature please. I keep thinking you're still pre-op.

Cajun, I'm holding my breath for you too! How are you doing?

I had a catheter, but I don't think I had that tube. The guy in the room next to me had a catheter as well, so I guess they do both male and female. I've never had one before. I was kinda cool to not have to get up in those first hours post-op. No pain at all.

Hi Michelle, welcome to VST! I can't wait to get to know you and hear your story!

Mama, try Fago zero sf yogurt. 1 cup is 9 carbs and 20 Protein. It's a great protein source. Tiff, I just had one of those popsicles today. They're higher in carbs than the other things I eat but feel so good on my sore throat. I'm using myfitnesspal and making sure I'm below 30 carbs. My Protein shakes are fairly low in carbs and I use 4oz of unsweetened soymilk (3 carbs for 8 oz) and it adds some good protein as well.

PNW, I'm so happy to hear the you and BKind are doing well. I remember getting up to go to the bathroom felt monumental to me. I was only in hospital 17 hours and everything got easier at home. I haven't tried Jello yet!! I did have some Fage yogurt for lunch today, 1/4 cup. Right now I'm sipping a cup of low sodium organic chicken broth to sooth my sore throat.