BlackBerryJuice

I say, if you don't need to, why torture yourself? Chances are, knowing that you don't really need to be on a diet, you probably won't have the motivation to stick to it - I'm sure there's a bunch of posts about how horrible the pre-op diet is on the very front page of this subforum! You can still be active and try to eat lots of fruits and veggies, but nothing's wrong with having some treats. I ate whatever I wanted before the surgery - in fact, Dr. Aceves tells his patients to go have a "last supper" the night before - and I didn't have any problems with my recovery in the first few days post-op.

Yeah, you're gonna be intubated. The intubation tube goes in the trachea, so having something in the esophagus doesn't interfere with it.

Bfast: leftover sushi from yesterday (terrible idea, but I do it at least once a month) Snack: Protein bar, 3 chocolates Lunch: tandoori chicken, palak paneer (spinach stew with Indian cheese) Before workout: Chinese fried rice Dinner: a bit of Chinese vegetables with shrimp, multigrain cookie, 3 strawberries I live off of leftovers....

I really like bodybuilding, as you may gather from my avatar. Right now, I'm taking a lot of dance classes, but I make sure to hit the weights at least once a week so I don't lose muscle mass. I was worried about losing muscle after the sleeve, but that doesn't seem to be a problem. Depending on what my skin looks like in a couple of months, I might even do an amateur competition this summer. I haven't had major loose skin issues - tiny bit on my inner thighs and butt, but both areas are still carrying some fat, so it's too early to tell. To give you an idea, I just get wrinkles on the underside of my butt when I flex my glutes, so this isn't something that would prevent me from, say, wearing shorts. I definitely don't have loose folds or anything major along those lines. I've heard it can take up to a year for your skin to fully tighten up. I don't think I'll ever have so much that I'd have surgery, but maybe I'll look into a laser or some other non-surgical option, if I can find something effective.

I started at 34-something. I actually hit my goal weight today. I think I'll try to lose another 5 lbs, as I have some inner thigh flab I'd still like to get rid of, but overall I'm a size 6-8 and pretty happy with my results. Overall, I've lost 63 lbs in just under 6 months, which is exactly what I expected based on the stats of other people before me who started in the 30-35 range (e.g. MINI-Me!). It seems that you can expect about 10 lbs a month on average if you have <100 to lose, but of course, there's personal variation.

Probably anemia; likely due to iron or B12 deficiency.

I don't think that would have any effect. The reason you get gout is because you either consume too much uric acid or don't excrete it well enough (90% of people with gout have the latter problem). It is linked to diet - back in the days, this was one of the rich people's diseases, because only the very rich could afford to eat so much meat and seafood in their diets that they'd actually accumulate such high levels of uric acid. If your post-sleeve diet resulted in a drastically limited intake of foods high in uric acid, your gout might improve, but weightloss alone probably won't do anything for it. Your doctor should've given you a list of foods to stay away from. Still, it doesn't solve the problem entirely, as flare-ups are not always linked to your serum uric acid levels - some people have flare-ups when their serum uric acid levels are within normal.

I definitely look younger now. I'm 26 and before, people would assume I was in my late 20s or early 30s and I got called "M'am" by strangers. Now it's "Miss" and no one ever thinks I'm older than I actually am.

Haha, now you know I didn't watch all of them (final exam tomorrow). On a related note, I lived in Asia for a while and I noticed that their sweets are nowhere near as sugar-laden as the ones here. If you are used to the super-sweet stuff here, their Desserts seem very bland. But post-sleeve, I'd much rather go for the mild sweetness of green tea ice cream than for Haagen Dazs loaded with sugar, caramel, and chocolate. Also, I heard somewhere that there are different amounts of sugar in Coke in different countries - and the US tops the list for the amount. I only drink Zero or Diet, so I don't have any personal experience from my travels, but I wonder if it's true.

I agree, sounds like you've got some depression issues going on. Nothing wrong with seeing a counselor and/or doctor about it. Plus you've got all the extra stress on top - once these things are sorted out, you'll feel much better. As far as the weight issue, I recall you saying they couldn't do all the medical tests you wanted back there, so at least you can get that done when you return to the US; and you'll be in control of your food rather than limited to 5 deep-fried choices from the cafeteria, so you can jump-start your weightloss with healthy foods. Things will turn around soon! A year from now, you'll look back on this time and the stress will seem insignificant.

I was also sleeved back in August at 25 (26 now)! I'm down 62 lbs and basically at my goal weight - I would like to get down to 140, but if I level out at 145, I'll be happy, too. I don't really think about my sleeve too much these days - I can eat anything I want, it's very rare that I get any pain or discomfort when eating. I also eat enough not to get weird stares from people who don't know about my surgery, but not so much that it'd make me gain weight. E.g. at 5.5 months out, I'll have half a 6" Subway sandwich with lots of veggies on it. I'm not very public about my sleeve - my immediate family and my boyfriend's family and 7 or 8 closest friends know, but that's about it.

I dunno, man, most Asian people I know happen to load up on tons of white rice AND somehow remain super-thin. You go to Japan or China and they eat 2-3 bowls of rice a day, but less than 5% of the population is obese. But you won't go to a restaurant there and get a serving of pasta the size of a soccer ball the way you will in North America. I really think it has more to do with QUANTITY of carbs than carbs alone - except for things like high-fructose corn syrup, but that's another story.

There's a couple of things that could cause it. Bladder prolapse is probably the most common one (esp. if you've had kids), but there are also some more serious things. Worth going to your family doc for if it becomes a regular occurence, IMO.

Sounds good...I'll probably be free in the first week, but after I'm swamped.

I think it's a mental thing....the nervous system in your internal organs is quite different from the one on the surface of your body, so you can't localize sensation very well. Kind of how people who have heart attacks can't pinpoint to the little spot on their heart that's dying.

ANA is not very specific for lupus, you might wanna ask for anti-ds DNA or anti-Sm.

Wow, great to hear!

2 eggs with some cheese in one sitting is where I'm at after 5.5 months.

I think it will help. Aerobic exercise is one of the only 3 treatments for fibromyalgia that actually has research backing it up, so definitely keep trying to do even just a little bit.

I was also rather hungry during the liquids phase. You should lose most of your hunger once you're on to solids, when your stomach actually remains full for several hours - the liquids go right through.

That's too bad that he's being such a stubborn fool about it. But good for you for standing up for yourself and realizing it's your own health and your own decision. If he continues to sabotage you and causes you trouble after the surgery, you know what to do.

Let me know how it goes. I got something like 5 sessions of Velashape at a mad discount (like $40 per session, I think?), just haven't gotten around to using it. I found some research on it - it looks like it has only been tested on the thigh area, which is fine by me, as that's where the last of my weight is being held. It looked like up to 80% of people experienced between 1 and 3" reduction in thigh circumference after 1 session. The only downside appeared to be some pain and potential bruising associated with it. I'm curious as to how painful it's gonna be.

Hey, thanks! I always lifted weights, so I had the muscle mass before the surgery - it's just been a matter of maintaining it and losing the fat on top since the surgery. I started some light weights maybe 8 weeks out (no ab work), and I went full throttle with heavy weights, weighted ab work, and bootcamp at about 3 months.

I agree! I've heard of people who are obese (between 35 and 40) gaining weight in order to get to 40+ and qualify, but if you are already at a normal weight, it just doesn't seem to make sense. I don't know if it's going to be very helpful. I bet she did more damage during these 2 years of gaining excess weight by overeating than she will by losing and getting her weight to 15 lbs before her starting weight....

I'm between 6 and 8 now, at 146. Not maintaining yet (lost 3 lbs this week). I was a loose 8 at 150 - I'm 5'5" tall.