BlackBerryJuice

Yeah, the first month or two, eating can feel like a real chore. It gets better, I promise!

I think if you guys have been seeing each other for a few weeks, you can break the news to him. Otherwise he might start thinking you have some mental problems (anorexia or something). And if he doesn't react positively - well, better find out that it's not meant to be now than later when you are really attached to him!

There's really no food that consistently doesn't sit well with me. However, foods that are more likely to cause me grief are breads and dry meats (including, yes, overcooked hamburger meat). That said, I'm still ok 90% of the time I eat bread or other offending foods, as long as I chew well and don't rush. The speed of eating seems to have more of an impact than the actual food itself.

You can totally eat too much eventually! DougNichols posted about running into a 4-yr sleever who was still overweight and just ate around her sleeve. I'm on vacation now and have been consuming a ton of calories, too! You can't down an entire cheeseburger or a burrito or something, but if you eat frequently, eat high-calorie items, and drink sugary drinks and are sedentary, you could easily gain weight. I probably had like 3000 calories yesterday....I'm not stressing because I also walked 10 miles and was active otherwise (swimming, etc), but if I was sedentary, this would definitely translate into weight gain.

Ditto, plus they are gonna pull on your hair with their weight. Also, it really doesn't look that great in real life, unless you are committed to styling them daily - the bonds tend to show.

Ah, to heck with this, I'll join in! I've reached my original goal, but I wanna tighten up my inner thighs and butt a bit more. I'm fluctuating between 142 and 143 the last 2 days, so I'm gonna put down 143 to be generous. Also, put the SNs together, at least from the last page SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal Becca............215.....................214.............195............19 BlackBerryJuice............208..............143............140...........3 Laylasmojo.....168...............168...........148........20 Lila.......................259...............256 ............230..............26 LilMissDiva.....221.8...............217.4...........199.8........17.6 MRSKOUBiK.........252....................252..............217.................35 pattimomof3nj.....157.3...............155.1...........140........15.1 Plumptious.....84kgs .............83kgs..........75kgs.........8kgs (17.6lbs)

Tried on a few pants in a size 6 today and they all fit (and some quite loosely, I must say!), so I guess I'm officially a 6. WEIRD! I can't believe I'm a size 6 with 38.5" hips. And then I went to Gap the other day and I found that their x-small tops fit me better than the smalls...I'm a D-cup, how could I be an x-small? Can you say VANITY SIZING?

If she doesn't approve you, you should not-so-gently suggest she stick to her area of expertise (mental issues) rather than issues that a physician should be dealing with (slow metabolism hindering your weightloss). There could be a myriad reasons why you haven't lost weight, and they have nothing to do with how "ready" you are for surgery.

Don't tell anyone, but I'm pretty sure I started mushies 2 or 3 days early.

P.S. If you do it, I'll do it, too. *gulp*

Down 2 lbs this morning! Just sayin'!

It's always great to hear from long-term sleevers! Good to know you've been able to maintain your weight without too much trouble. Did you get sleeved in the US or abroad?

Not really. I don't crave things very often, and when I do eat something I really want, it just doesn't taste as good as it used to. I pampered myself with some Nutella crepes this morning, 1st time post-up. These used to be like crack for me, and while they tasted fine to me this morning, they didn't taste any better than a yogurt or an egg would've - I could easily never touch them again and be perfectly happy. Before, I'd pack away like 4 or 5, until I felt nauseous from the sugar rush! Food just doesn't excite me as much as it used to. The only times I wish I could eat more is when I see an appetizer AND a main dish AND a dessert on the menu when we go out, and want them all - but since I can only eat a few bites of each, I have to make a choice. But then I think that I can always come back again and try whatever I ended up not having, so it's not a huge deal.

I think it's a great compliment! I've always wanted to do an amateur figure or natural bodybuilding competition. There's one not too far from where I live this June, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't toying around with the idea of signing up. But the diet would sure put a damper on my boyfriend and I's routine of eating out daily, so it's a tough decision. But there's lots of people after 40 who still compete (and win!). Check out this link: http://www.bodybuilders.com/over40.htm You can click on "previous over 40 amateur of the week" link at the bottom of the page if you want to see other people, there are quite a few women.

I wanted to be under 25, so as to be in a healthy weight range. I'm currently at 24, I wouldn't mind losing another 2-3 lbs off of my inner thighs/butt, which would put me closer to 23, but otherwise I'm content with my weight. I'm not "skinny," but I'm not overweight, either.

Good work! I can't wait to send mine....I decided to wait until I remain at the same weight for a month (just dropped another pound this morning).

Some surgeons are a lot more lax than others. My doc says 10 days clear liquids, 10 days full liquids, 10 days mushies, but there's a respected program out of Cornell University that starts you on mushy foods after 3 days, if I remember correctly (you can google Cornell Weight Loss Surgery Guidelines and probably find the guide rather quickly). I don't know how comfortable I'd be with non-pureed foods my 2nd day post-op....so I'd suggest at least doing the Cornell thing to take it easy on your stomach.

I don't announce it to the general public, but the main reason for me is actually to do with money - I get lots of bursaries and a lot of super-rich kids in my class hate the bursary system and would use any opportunity to malign the people who get them and use them for "inappropriate purposes" (whatever that is). Last thing I want is to be crucified for paying $9500 to go to Mexico to have my sleeve - even though I maxed out my line of credit for this. So when a few classmates who are not friends of mine commented on my weightloss, I just said I was diagnosed and treated for hypothyroidism. And people see me in the campus gym fairly regularly, so everyone knows I obviously exercise. But I disclosed it to friends and close family members. As far as almost strangers, I don't really see the need to broadcast it. The other day I was out to dinner with my boyfriend and his work partners and I scooped up my salad leftovers in some tupperware - everybody stared! I mentioned it to him later - I personally thought it's because they are filthy rich and aren't used to the idea of taking leftovers home, but he thought that everybody must've thought I ate too little. I felt I ate a fair bit, which is easy with salads, as they are high in volume on your plate but pack pretty tight in the ol' sleeve. He said, "Maybe we should just tell them you had weightloss surgery!" I was like, "WHY?" If these people were obese, I might have, as they could've benefited from that information, but otherwise, I just don't see the point. I told him maybe he should tell them he had an orchiiectomy, he quickly got the message.

Haha! I remember reading an article in some women's magazine, maybe Marie Claire or Glamour, a few months ago - this woman had libido issues and went on testosterone supplements and went batshit crazy and started cheating on her husband with everyone. I imagine she was getting injections rather than using a topical cream, but still! That said, my boyfriend receives monthly testosterone injections (he had a precancerous ******** removed), and he still has issues in the sack. When he first started them, he thought he was gonna turn into a Ron Jeremy/The Rock, but I've noticed zero change in him so far. EDIT: the word "tes.tic.le" is considered obscene on this site, apparently....lol

They are both good plans, but the quantity of food in the trainer's plan is just too much for you right now.

Scary, especially with such a benign drug - not even really a drug, really! I had a bad bout of nausea on my 1st day post-op in Mexico and the nurse gave me some anti-nauseant in the IV - the second she pushed on the syringe, you could see hives rising up my arm right along the veins! They stopped immediately, so thankfully, the rash just stopped at my elbow and I never got any systemic symptoms, but they sure got more than they bargained for. I checked the name of the drug when I got home, and it's not used in North America, so I decided not to bother with a medic alert.

Also, interesting sidenote about endurance - I learned in respirology that a lot of elite-level endurance athletes have certain anomalies in the vascular system that supplies their lungs (specifically, arterio-venous shunts that allow their blood to be oxygenated faster). The doc who mentioned it to us ran some sort of study on endurance athletes and he noticed that one of his 20+ subjects had to work so much harder than the others, and yet his results were still not as good as those of the guys who trained a lot less. He ran some imaging on them and all of his subjects except for that one guy had these A-V shunts. That confirmed my lifelong suspicion that a greater capacity for endurance is something you are born with rather than earned by lots of training. My boyfriend can run a 22-min 5K on a whim and I struggle to finish in 30 minutes.

I'd try running and walking. I have less than stellar endurance, so it's hard for me to run more than 10-15 mins without stopping. But when I ran a 10K with a friend, my running-walking scheme got me to the finish line 15 minutes earlier than her steady chugging along. Just go outside or on the treadmill and run at a faster pace than normal for you (say, 6 mph) until you can't anymore, than switch to walking at 3.5-3.7, then run again after 2 mins or so.

Coffee's great when you gotta go! I had a salad with a bunch of beans last night, and I think I'm gonna venture out to get a latte in a bit. Watch out, porcelain god! Hehe.

Weird, my ad right now is for "Hot Canadian Singles!" LOL.