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The other part of it is what is a reasonable amount of weight to lose?? Maybe your body is very happy where you are at. Your BMI is at a healthy level, you lost 91.42% of your posted goal. That is way more than what most sites say is the anticipated amount. Seems like the average to expect is 60-80% of excess weight in a year. You have done much better than that! I am at 53.84, not that far away from 60% in a relatively short amount of time. It would have driven me crazy to only lose this much in a year! : ) Yesterday I needed salt, today it was sugar. Tomorrow is shrimp! LOL Or atleast that is what I am taking for dinner at my brother's house! I may eat the entire tray myself ....... That side of the family is very self centered and a very tight group. Often the one family will sit alone and talk amongst themselves and ignore everyone else. Except for their adopted daughter. I totally adore her. I am the closest to her but she wasn't there today. She would have noticed!!!! haha!

hope your travel, surgery and recovery all go smoothly!

Have you tried switching it up a bit? Raise the protein for a few days, then more calories, then go back to the plan. It has worked for me. This truly is a mental challenge as much as a physical one. I have said over and over again that I had no idea how addicted I was to food until after the surgery. I have been fortunate to be able to eat a variety that makes me happy at this point, just not enough quantity, mentally. The stomach certainly gets full and lets me know tho! I just don't think it is possible to cut your intake so drastically and never lose anything again. It might be hard and slow, but will happen. and yes - hang in there! :lol4:

Thanks Fab! And not a single person said anything! oh well, maybe they will notice the next time I see them in one or two years. lol I am better today but not perfect. Kindof odd. Still a little shakey and eyes are weird. Hopefully my MIL's 88th bday cake that I had for lunch will do the trick! : ) I wonder how long the weight loss will continue. The lowest I have ever been as an adult was 118, and that was too skinny. I think that was even after my second child! My body was always quite happy in the 125-135 range, so it will be interesting if it stops there or what. I need 10-15 more lbs to make the surgery worthwhile. After that, it is a bonus! Good for you on the walking. I am just a lazy bum. If it doesn't get done in the morning, it ain't happening. lol I am sure my dog would love a walk. **maybe later**

The premade shakes worked best for me to insure the Protein. I used Atkins, Nutrilife and Premier. The Premier has 30 protein compared to 15 for the other two. I liked the chocolate flavor in all three. They are 11 oz and it would take me about 2 hours to drink it. In the beginning, I sometimes had two of those a day. I filled it around that with potato Soup, mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, yogurt, SF chocolate pudding (LOL). I was fortunate that I was able to go from clears to full to mushy by the end of the first week, and felt great. Be cautious, use common sense and do what makes your stomach and you feel the best. Good Luck!!

Sounds like a lousy night! Is there an urgent care facility that you could go to first? They might actually give you more treatment than the ER. I have gone into the ER, they have given me meds and sent me home. I have asked for tests (uh, shouldn't we see what's wrong?) and was told their job was to get me stable. I had to see the dr for anything else. Do you like peach? Maybe a couple sips of warm peach tea? I heated crystal lite peach tea, it was great. Maybe it will be soothing for you? Don't worry about being a pain in your dr's arse. If you don't feel well, keep calling! Hope you feel better soon!

awesome job Hope! that is a great achievement! Congrats and good luck with the other 50! enjoy the beach! you deserve it!

Tiffany, As we talked about last night, change it up. Don't sabotage yourself. I like wannalise's idea of planning meals for the day ahead. Do a day or two of Protein shakes only, eat regular for a couple of days (500ish calories, etc), and then bump up the calories for a couple of days. Might be enough to get your body going. I also lost the majority of my weight in the first week or two. Since then, it has been much slower. When I look back at my calendar, there are definitely times that I only lost a pound in a week. Overall, my average is ok, but those weeks happen. Have you remeasured since pre-op? Are you clothes fitting any different? And, silly girl, how are your incisions doing since you took out your stitches too early?? LOL I hope they are closing up on their own and healing well : ) You can and will do this. Today is a new day. Start over. Fresh page. as always, call or text anytime! luv ya!

yea!! The worst part is over!! Now you can enjoy the ride!! it does sound like you had an interesting time of it! had to laugh just a little at times; sounds like you kept a positive attitude and that is great! eating soft and mushy early on helped me so much! I am glad you are able to also! continued good luck!

I used the Atkins premade shakes before surgery and they still taste good to me. I have also used the Nutrilite brand. My favorite is Premier chocolate Shakes, I get them at costco. They taste as good as the other two and have double the protein at 30. I always have one for Breakfast and often have a second one later in the day.

At 11 weeks - the scale is at 157.8! A loss of 35.2 lbs! I wish I could come up with new descriptive words! Absolutely unbelieveable! Even tho I have read the stories here, seen the before and after photos, and talked to a local gal who had success, I didn't really know if it would work for me. AND ... I now have less than 30 lbs to lose!! yea!! The biggest problem? Even my shirts are becoming unwearable! They look sloppy as they hang. Several of my layering tanks are too long and too stretched out. I expected to need pants but didn't realize the shirts would be an issue also! I know, a "terrible" problem to have! I was hoping the shirts would be doable until I was done losing weight, and I could buy new ones then. I did wander thru the Misses department the other day, and maybe found 1 or 2 things I would even consider wearing. Funny how our tastes change as the weight comes off! I may have to move down to juniors! LOL We have a birthday/mother's day party for my MIL tomorrow. No clue what I will wear. And no one on this side of the family knows about the surgery. I probably won't even bring it up unless someone really pushes the weight loss issue. We see most of them so rarely it just isn't important. Life is getting better! My back issues have settled down, altho I just finished 6 weeks of PT. I now have 2 weeks off and on my own for exercises before I see the specialist again. We'll see if it holds out. I would love to start running again and if I want to continue to coach volleyball, I need to be healthy. I have adjusted to the cpap machine and other than the past week, I have been sleeping much better. I am a little less tired during the day and hopefully that will continue to improve. I was sick this morning. Slept lousy, was probably awake every 1-2 hours. Woke up very dizzy, hands shaking and blurry vision. The glasses I wear for driving didn't even help. I went to the office for about 2.5 hours, then came home for a nap. I really pushed the Protein today and a few extra calories. Better but not perfect tonite. Would be curious to know if it was a bug, related to sleep or something with the diet/weight loss. Guess I will just wait and see! Happy Mother's Day to all this weekend! It even looks like we will have sun here instead of the usual rain!!

Hey Dickson! I will be in Port Orchard tomorrow! We are celebrating my MIL's birthday. I was wondering if Madigan did any weight loss surgery. I have a gf who is a nurse there. And I was born there! : ) Congrats on your plans! I am so happy I did it!

so you went home same day, right? I did the big gulp thing on accident a few times also and it was a shock! Did your dr say you could drink already today?? It sounds like the feelings I had but I didn't start drinking until the afternoon of the 2nd day post op. Maybe you could call them?? Congrats tho! it just gets easier from here!

thank you! it is wonderful! I don't have any jeans that fit properly right now, so I am either wearing some with a baggy behind or lviing in a pair of adidas sweats that aren't too bad yet. hoping to hold off for another week or so to buy anything. I will probably end up at the thrift store before I buy new ones tho! You will love having the sleeve. It is incredible!! I hope you get a date soon and become a "loser" like the rest of us!

Benefiber tastes horrid to me - I was so disappointed. For now tho, all systems are working fine. If I run into a problem, I will try again. I think I have an orange flavored one??

Yep, but only did it twice. I didn't have any issues swallowing pills so started taking them whole. I don't know if I would have had I taken them longer if half tho? Ask a pharmacist. Sometimes they have better info : )

Fruit salad Three guys who were lost at sea ended up landing on an unfamiliar island. After wandering around for a while, a group of natives picked them up and took them to their hut. The chief came up to them and said, "We will let you live, if you can go out into the jungle and bring me 10 pieces of fruit." So the men agree and take off. The first guy brings back 10 apples and places them before the chief. "Now, you must stick the apples up your ass and not show a bit of emotion, or else we will kill you." The guy got one, and on the second, he flinched and was killed. The second guy walks up and shows the chief 10 berries. He is given the same task and makes it up to 8 and then begins to laugh histerically. He is also killed. When the second guy gets to heaven and meets up with the first, the first asks him "You almost had it! Why did you laugh??" The second replies, "I couldnt help it. I got the 8th up there and saw the other guy walking up with pineapples."

Are caterpillars good to eat? Johnny: Daddy, are caterpillars good to eat? Father: Have I not told you never to mention such things during meals! Mother: Why did you say that, Junior? Why did you ask the question? Johnny: It's because I saw one on daddy's lettuce, but now it's gone.

There is truly no reason to tell them "before" the surgery, especially if their response is going to upset you. I told three people before my surgery - my husband, my youngest daughter who still lives at home, and my sister. Everyone else got an email a couple of weeks after I got back. I wanted to wait until I had recovered from the surgery and lost a few pounds, so I would have something positive to share. My 24 year old daughter is still mad at me. Maybe she will ease up at some point. And yes, she is 5'9" and slender. :confused1: Now, over two months out, I tell almost everyone. I have decided that it is more important to share the sleeve surgery so that more people will benefit from it, than to be worried about what casual friends or aquaintances might say. Also, for you in-laws, I would suggest printing a description of the surgery from a website that also includes a drawing of what is being done. I did that for my primary doc because she was familiar with the band and bypass, but not the sleeve : ) Congrats on your plans! I am so glad your parents were supportive!

Good for you! It takes alot of moxie to go into a class with skinny chicks! The soreness will eventually go away ... in a month or so! LOL and j/k Your hard work will pay off! My advice: ice for 20, off for 20, heat for 20, off for 20, and repeat! Bio Freeze is amazing! It is like a cold icy hot. My chiro sells it. If all of that fails, a bubble bath with a class of wine : )

I am taking the same med as you. I broke them in half the first 2 days and then started taking them whole. I had asked and it wasn't a problem. I didn't have any noticeable issues, either physical or emotional. Maybe if you needed to do it for an extended period, it would be different. I probably could have taken even the first two whole. I was just chicken to try : ) I take several meds and vitamins daily, and have been able to take them easily since day 3.

Thank you! It is pretty darn exciting! People are finally starting to notice, it is nice. I do lousy on the days I am home, there are just too many temptations and too much food around. A bite of this and a bite of that. LOL Or I get totally sidetracked with a project and forget to eat for hours! Then I feel dizzy! At work, there are fewer and better choices, altho we do keep a variety of Snacks around for the employees. Exercise is not big on my schedule yet, altho I am getting there. The desire is mostly back, now I just need to make it happen. Going to PT twice a week has helped tho. Last week I asked for some specific exercises to work on the love handles that wouldn't irritate my back. Starting to think summer!! :wink1: And I am ready for that belly ring date anytime you are! My stomach is doing well. I really don't think I will need surgery to remove any extra skin. You got to your goal weight quickly! I hope my loss continues and I don't slow down below 2 lbs per week. I am really getting excited to be thin again!

I can relate to that! I probably had fast food for lunch at least once a week and ate out for dinner 1-2 times per week, sometimes more, depending on our schedule. I ordered the fish sandwich at Jack in the Box, only ate 1 of the 2 pieces of fish. Taco Bell is great because it is so cheap. I have gone there a couple of times (chicken soft taco or bean burrito). I can barely eat half tho! What I would really like is a salad. Will be nice when that is back on my list of foods!

Not often that I love Monday mornings, but two weeks in a row???? I ate weird all weekend, some good, some not so good, since we were at the regional volleyball tourney both days. But it happened!!!! I am in the 150's!!!! Just barely, lol but I saw 159.8 this am!! My youngest daughter and I are going to the mall later today for new jeans, nails and pedi's! She was exhausted to the point of tears last night. We decided today was a stay home, sleep in day. She does have to finish any homework first tho : ) So, I may have only lost 2 pounds in the last week, but going from the 160's to the 150's makes it feel like so much more! Gotta always look on the bright side!

Jillian, You are sure getting a wide range of opinions : ) Since I always seem to be the rebel around here, I am going in a different direction. I totally agree with you that reducing your stomach to a normal size could be a great solution for you. Hopefully you will be able to find a couple of surgeons to discuss it with and see if it is a feasible, realistic solution. I am sure there have been similiar cases before and someone will know the answer. Most of us have eating issues or we wouldn't be where we are or were. I personally don't feel that you have any more issues than anyone else. I know that the mental side of the sleeve surgery has been much more difficult than the physical. Truly, one day at a time, one meal at a time. It is a work in progress and for me, the more success I see, the easier it is to accept the amount I can eat. The mental will adjust and correct over time, just like most any habit to be changed. I would compare your situation to the many women who have bladder issues. This is coming from a laymen's view, not a medical one :smile1:. I have heard about many women encountering bladder problems after having children and getting older. This past year I noticed a change in myself. If the bladder was full and I sneezed, it was time to change clothes! LOL That was going to be my "next project" to discuss with my doctor. However, the weight issue shot to the top with the sleep apnea and back problems. AND, the best part .... I no longer have bladder issues after having the surgery because my bladder never gets too full now :thumbup:. Bladders get stretched out, drop, whatever - very similar sounding as your stomach being stretched out. People have surgeries for many different reasons. Many people here have talked about having cosmetic surgery after losing weight. I really don't see this as being much different. Cosmetic surgery also isn't going to cure any deep rooted issues and how many ever consider counseling after having their breasts lifted, reduced or augmented? Lots of people have cosmetic surgery expecting miracles. I know it made me feel better about myself however it certainly didn't change my life or make stress go away. Do your research, talk to a couple of doctors and then make the best decision for you. Good Luck! Would be interested in what drs advise you and what you decide! :wink0: