stcyt

okay Ryansgirl.... your my inspiration. I have started weight lifting. Started last week, and I think I like it. I'm not doing free weights yet... just using the machines... but its kinda fun. I cant wait until I get to move up the weight. Here's what I've been told. do whatever amount of weight results in you being fatigued after 12 reps. You really only need to do one set of 12 reps. You don't want to push to the point where you are sore all the time. you want at least 48 hrs recovery time between workouts. Any other tips from anyone.... Everytime I go to the gym I see the pictures of ryans girls arms before and after. thanks stacey

So... I've been a vegetarian off an on throughout my life. I know this sounds kind of tree huggerish but I struggle with the concept of eating animals, always have. I'm not making any judgements... I know its perfectly natural... its just that something in my brain revolts against it. I've mostly eaten meat because its there... and well... lets face it... its good. Now I'm finding I hate it.... absolutly hate it. I find this to be a good thing... because if I don't eat meat then I can live and eat in a way that coincides with my ideals. I want to quit eating meat copletely but I'm nervous about it. I think the dense protein is a huge part of weight loss (I have 25 lbs to go). It fills my sleeve completely and leaves little room for other junk. My yoga teacher told me about a hemp-pea protien shake she drinks and I'm going to try that. I just don't want to slip into eating mushies etc.... Any thoughts out there???? thanks stacey

well.... I don't really have an answer for you.... I just wanted to say congradulations on being so certain about the sleeve. Its a life changer. You sound pretty determined.... and although it sounds like your covered.... if by some randome happenstance you arn't... you'll probably find a way. I was self pay... something I never thought I could swing... but in the end it was worth every penny of the ridiculously high interest surgery loan I am paying. take care stacey

I'm pretty sure I'm a vegitarian now. I have been a vegitarian off and on throughout my life. I feel like I need to remain a meat eater until I reach my goal weight because the dense protein is a big contributor to my weight loss... but man sometimes I have to choke it down. Chicken breasts....yuk.... pork...yuk..... steak... haven't tried it yet but sounds bad. I'm pretty much down to fish. I try to choke down a chicken breast or something along those lines every day... but when I reach my goal thats going out the window.

I'm only 4 months out and I can't imagine going back to a life of deprevation and failure. That was such a miserable way to live. I feel bad when I hear people talking about thier frustrations with diets. We all know from experience that they are probably killing themselves.... doing everything in their power... but still comming up short (or fat, as it were). I just wish I could help somehow... but I don't want to go about the business of "selling" my surgery. I haven't told a bunch of people about my surgery but I tell those people. It seems cruel to let them believe that I'm loosing weight through deprevation.

I have trouble with measurements... I am not percise enough and can get remarkably different readings only days apart. Last time I made a note of which freckle the tape measure was next to... maybe that will help. I try to stay away from the scale because it makes me kinda nuts, but one thing that I do that seems to work is buy a pair of pants one size too small and never wear them. I use them for measurement purposes only. You can get a pair at goodwill for a couple of bucks.... doesn't matter if they are bright yellow with orange flowers so long as they are one size smaller than your current size. Try to find a fabric that doesnt give... no stretch pants etc. So far its the only method that I feel like I can really count on. take care stacey

I was sooooo scared of leaks at first. Every little bump in the road scared the pants off of me. If your running a low grade fever you should definately let your doc know.... but try not to freak yourself out. Rest... sip... heal. Its scary at first for sure. Take a breath.... make sure your doc is informed... and try to relax. It gets better. Stacey

When I woke up from surgery I was disoriented, nauseated, and in pain... but.... I had a little smile on my face knowing that there was no way I could remain fat !!!!!! I hope your surgery went well, and I hope you treasure that little smile as you recover stacey

Mary your doing so great!!!! I know its hard to believe, but those 18's are going to be baggy soon. I'm on a scale strike too. I'm not weighing till the 21st. I didn't weigh at all durring month 2 and I was soooooooo much happier. Month 3 I started weighing again and I was freakin miserable and obsessed. At the end of the month I had lost just as much as I would have had I not weighed every day. Its hard to stay away from the scale... but my frame of mind is completely different when I do. Keep up the great work stacey

I remember being hungery at about 5 days out too. My body just wasn't getting enough on full liquids. If its okay with your doc maybe try some pureed stuff. You can take a "real" meal and turn it into a liquid. It does get better though. Once I was all healed up and started eating solid food my hunger went away. Its comes back once in a while... but nothing like before. Now I'm only hungry when my body actually needs food and it takes just a tiny bit to satisfy me for hours. The drinking will get better too. at 4 mos I can drink as much as I want with no issues. I know that fear about this not working.... I get that way a lot still... but... I promise it will. It wont always be as fast as you want it... but it will happen. The biggest thing I can do to keep things moving in the right direction is stay away from mushies and sweets.... lots of lean Protein. I suspect that even if I didn't follow those guidelines I'd still loose... just slower. Hang in there sister. Here's the good news. Now matter how discouraged and scared you get about this not working... its still going to work. take care stacey

wow... thats a good find. I would have felt better if I had had this when I had surgery.

I was sleeved by Dr Rod in march. I had an easy recovery and no problems, but I did worry about "what if" I had complications after I got home. I figured the worst thing that would happen was that I would end up at the ER here and they would have to call in a local bariatric surgeon to take a look. I never checked it out myself... but healthcare professional friends of mine said that my insurance would have to cover it if it was threateing my health (I have kaiser). As far as nutrition goes... its been pretty easy to get info and you could always hire a nut in your area if you really need it. This board has been invaluable as far as support goes. It did give me quite a bit of peace of mind to have my pcp on board. take care stacey

I was worried about this too. I love to go for a big hike in the sun and the n guzzel down some cold water. I couldn't do it till around month 3 but I can handle about 4 big guzzels now. Its enough so that I get that great quenching feeling after exercise, but probably not enough to rehydrate me. I try to be very hydrated before working out and take sips throughout. I can usually get a good size bottle in me in the 30 mins after my workout.

These stalls are so frustrating sometimes I just want to tear my hair out (I'm scared to though because it would probably come right off my head). I have a friend who had bypass last year and the number one thing she complains about is that she has stalls. I'm in one too and going nuts. I exercise a lot too... sometimes 3x per day and I litterally climb mountains on my 3 days off a week. I think that even though I eat 100 - 1200 calories a day I may need more. Who knows. Hopefully we will all look back in a year and laugh at how upset we got. hang in there stacey

thans so much you guys.... its so amazing that we have this place for support. Minime... your so right about not weighting. My second month I didn't weigh at all and it was sooo freeing. I just recently got re-addicted to the scale. For my sanity sake I will absolutly take the challenge... no more weighing ofr a month thanks stacey

I used belight weight and Dr Rod. I had a few questions post op and people from belight were happy to answer them if they could or ask Dr rod for me if they couldn't. I have never had to wait more than a few hours for an e-mail response. I am 3 months out and just got a call from them checking to see how I was doing... reminding me about Protein and nutrition and just generally checking in. Got the same call at 2 months. They were very professional and stayed at the hospital the whole time I was there... encouraging me to walk sip etc. Very nice people. Also loved Dr rod and his team. My PCP in the states said my incisions were great . Stacey

ahh... lisa lu... what you are writing about is exacty what I'm afraid of. What if my body just doesn't want to go there. I think I have a pretty good handle on the "life will be perfect when I weigh this much thig" I just really really want to be a thin person. My body is a little strange right now... I have a tiny little rib cage and bust and fat hanging from my arms abdomen and thighs. Actually... one of my thighs is almost as big around as my bust. The only time I am proportional is when I am thin enough to deplete those reserves that y but and thighs love so much. Even though I'm close to "normal" I am still wearing a 12 to 14 in pants even though I am a 6-8 in tops. I know that I am healthy...I eat well and exercise alot. It is purly vanity at this point. I just want to wear an 8 in pants... even if I don't reach goal I could be happy with that. As a matter of fact... at my height I don't think I want to wear less than an 8 (okay.... if you forced it on me I would take a 6). What does our body live off of when we are eating 1000 calories and exercising a lot an not loosing weight:confused: It doesn't appear that I'm loosing inches either. stacey

I don't really have anything new to add... just that its perfectly normal for you to be feeling this way. I think I was about 6-7 weeks out before my energy really came back. Now... at 3 months, I have all that I had before surgery and then some. Take this opertunity to nurture yourself. You'll feel better soon

No nut involved. I get a lot of guidance from this board. Yesterday I forced myself to eat more. Good stuff thats high in calories like avacados and goat cheese. no sugars or simple carbs... I may have eaten 1600=1700 calories (its so weird to have to force myself to eat that much. there was a time I could do that durring one episode of The Office.) I'm going to change up my exercise routine too. Maybe start walking in the mornings to get my fire started early. I love your challenge... it makes so much sense.... thanks stacey

Thanks guys... it really does help to get a little input sometimes. I'm okay with being in a stall so long as its just a stall. I'm so terrified that this is it. Its encouraging to hear that peole come out of stalls sometimes without doing anything different. thanks stacey

Okay guys... I really tried not freak out this time, but its gone on too long. 3 weeks now... up a lb, down a lb, up 2 down 1. I'm going nuts. I keep thinking that this is it.. this is as much as I can loose. Can that be possible? I'm not even "Normal" yet (BMI speaking). I'm so discouraged. I get teary when I think I'm not going to make it. I'm so thankful for the weight I've lost... but I really really want to be thin... not just a "little"overweight I don't know what to do. I eat about 1000-1200 calories a day... mostly Protein. I do eat some complex carbs as I can't function on the traditional low carb thing. I work out for an hour at lunch at curves and do yoga at night (hard core hot yoga) I hike for hours on my days off. I don't want to reduce my calories as it seems like that will just make things worse. I'm so sad. Any encouragment would be great. thanks stacey

Great Job....It sounds like working out has really become a part of your life...

Julie, I'm a slow looser too. Its so hard sometimes. I don't know what your BMI is but I have noticed something on the tickers of people who got sleeved at the same time I did. Just about all of us are right at or just under half way there. If someone had 200 lbs to loose they have lost about 100 and I had 57 to loose and have lost about 30. It appears that no matter what we weigh... we will all likely hit our goal about the same time. Its a percentage of body weight thing. I know its frustrating... there are days when I want to scream (I'm in a stall right now and having those days pretty often) In the end though, for all my flailing about and worrying.... I'll end up at goal right when I'm supposed to. Stacey

Hi jennifer, I was sleeved by Dr Rod in TJ in March. He was great... but its ot just him. He's got a great team and they are all very attentive. Your in great hands