BlackBerryJuice

I think it's a good idea, get it ASAP so it kicks in before you are there. I wouldn't get it RIGHT before or shortly after surgery, though, because some of these shots are pretty tough on you. I had regular and H1N1 shots at the same time last year and didn't feel 100% for about 3 days. The first day after, I could barely stand up! I essentially had a mild flu for 3 days, lol.

I'm more concerned about my boyfriend than myself for the intensity level, haha...I used to box competitively, so I'm used to very challenging workouts. We haven't started it yet because I got an awesome discount for an unlimited one-month bootcamp, so we've been going there instead. Lots of plyometrics, we did 2 days in a row and today I'm pretty sore! But I got us resistance bands, weights ranging from 3 to 20 lbs, a chin-up bar, and yoga mats, so I'm excited to start P90X in November once the bootcamp's over.

I eat a fair bit and my weightloss has been pretty quick. If you have a fast metabolism, going too low (think 500-600) might even be detrimental because you could end up in starvation mode. I've been eating 1000-1200 a day for a month and have lost somewhere between 12 and 15 lbs in the last month. I also haven't lost much muscle, it's mostly fat coming off, which is a bonus - I didn't just want to lose a bunch of scale weight and then look like a melted snowman, which can happen with starvation. Your body likes to burn muscle first when you are starving, not fat, so eating more can indeed yield better results. Plus as your muscle mass decreases, so does your basic metabolic rate, so it's a double whammy.

Wow, awesome!

Before my surgery, everyone told me they were worried I'd become anorexic and waste away. It's like people don't understand that there's a happy medium between being obese and emaciated.

I'm 2 months out today and can eat a fair bit in one meal. I can generally eat a lot more at night than first thing in the morning. This morning, I couldn't even finish my Zone bar. Last night, I had a slice of thin crust pizza (no edge), about half a large meatball, and half a bowl of tiramisu. Was STUFFED. The night before, we went out for sushi and I had 7 slices of sashimi with a bit of rice - felt full in a pleasant way. I'm actually relieved to be able to eat a reasonable amount - I still don't eat very much, but I no longer get weird stares from waiters, etc, and feel comfortable going out to eat with people who don't know about my sleeve - I'll eat enough not to look strange.

It's a lot easier after surgery, trust me.

Simplest answer is both. You'll be checked several times in the hospital before being released to catch most of the surgeon-related errors. After that, you need to make sure you eat mindfully to avoid overeating and follow your post-surgery diet so as not to stress your healing sleeve.

Nice! We are similar in starting weight and loss rate, by the looks of it.

Oh no! Sending good vibes to jg62 and her husband...hope everything turns around soon!

My doc said I could swim once the scabs fell off (around 2 weeks). The first few times I couldn't last more than 15-20 minutes, so I'd say wait about 3 weeks before trying water aerobics and don't be surprised if you need to stop halfway through the class.

I had an opportunity to talk to a dietitian yesterday and I asked about low-carb vs. other low-calorie diets for weight loss and she said research has shown that low-carb is more effective in the short term, but at 6 months, the progress is the same whether you are low-carb or just watching your calories and eating healthy. Now, I wasn't asking her in the WLS context, but still, it's something I'd like to explore once my final exam is done tomorrow and I have more time. GT, did you ever have your thyroid checked? My main ideas for you are either 1) starvation mode (eating too little and your metabolism slowing down to a halt to match) or 2) hypothyroidism. The first is easy to fix - just try to eat more. I eat 1000-1200 a day and am losing at a pretty quick rate. The 2nd would obviously involve a medical diagnosis.

Thanks...It's not quite what I meant, though, I was interested in the source the book itself used for that statement, I have no doubts that the original poster quoted it directly from the book. But realistically, I could release the "All-Sugar Diet" book tomorrow and write all kinds of crap in there, if you know what I mean. I was wondering if the book itself has some sort of reference - they are usually grouped by chapter in the back. I obviously wouldn't expect you to list all the references for the chapter here, but if you end up interested in this and look into some of them and find some legit evidence to prove or disprove it, I'd definitely be curious to hear about it. P.S. What's with this creepy "so-and-so started a personal conversation with you" notification that this site gives when someone quotes your post? I wasn't sure what to expect when I first saw that....lol.

Congrats! It's amazing, isn't it!? I'm 2 days away from 2 months out and am down 33 lbs - I lost this weight last year and it took me EIGHT months and way more working out.

Good thing you found out before and not after the surgery! I think the idea of writing on your belly is really good, as well as talking to the surgeon about it right before the surgery to make sure s/he's 100% sure about the type of surgery that is to be performed.

I think I'm in the minority on this site in that I don't care about my carb intake. Don't get me wrong, I'm not inhaling bags of gummy bears or anything, but to offer an example, I just had a snack of a delicious ripe banana and when I have lunch in about 2 hours, I'll definitely have a few bites of rice or naan bread with my butter chicken. I will also most likely have more fruit later on in the day (probably try this Korean melon I bought the other day). I just try to make most of my carbs whole grain or fruit sources. I have lots of energy - I take 3 hours of dance classes in a row on Wednesdays! - and I have lost as much weight as other folks around my size who are watching carbs, and even more in some cases. I also eat quite a bit more calories. I haven't counted for a few weeks, but I'd estimate that I range between 1000 and 1200/day. Experiment with your food intake to find out what works for YOU in terms of weightloss and overall well-being. I could NEVER do the 30 grams of carb/day thing, my brain wouldn't function as well and I'd feel weak and cranky.

Yeah, in my opinion, the fewer people you tell before you get the surgery, the better. You don't need all the unnecessary stress of having to politely listen to everything random people will tell you. EVERYONE in our society is an "obesity expert," particularly people who are thin and come from families where no one is overweight. Now that I've been sleeved, I understand how some thin people fail to comprehend why we can't make healthier choices 100% of the time - it's very easy with the sleeve. I just wish they would shut up about the fact that if THEY can, so can everybody else. At least no one has been rude and condescending so far, by the sounds of it, but I would prepare for these reactions, as well, there's guaranteed to be one or two idiots you'll encounter later on.

Did they actually reference that statement in the book? I'm curious as to the source, because it sounds like a truckload of BS to me. It's artificial sweeteners, NOT sugar, that upset the GI tract and cause diarrhea, bloating, cramps, and flatulence.

As soon as I saw "like Chipotle," my eyeballs nearly fell out of my skull. My boyfriend went to the States a few weeks ago and I actually made him bring me back a barbacoa bol. The customs officer was amused.

With the shoe size, is it just the width or also the length that goes down? I was just complaining to my boyfriend a few months ago that I seem to have gently progressed from size 9-9.5 to size 10 in shoes. I'm 25 and haven't grown vertically since I was 11 or 12, so I speculated that it was due to weight gain. I can barely squeeze my feet into a 9 these days, and only a few years ago I regularly wore size 9s. I'm also not that tall, so size 10 is really large.

Try bodybuilding.com - they have an exercise directory. I also have the Women's Health Big Book of Exercises, although I got it right before I headed to Mexicali, so I haven't really looked through it. I'll start reading it once we're done with this bootcamp in November.

I'm in the exact same boat - brutal sore throat (can barely speak), feeling crappy overall, AND just got my period this morning. I feel like I have a fever, but I don't. Did I mention I also signed up for unlimited bootcamp starting tomorrow AND I have a final exam on Friday covering everything we learned in the last 6 weeks? I popped some ibuprofen for the period cramps and in hopes of making my throat less sore. If you have a lot of chest congestion, one of my favorite things is Robitussin - it really liquifies everything (including mucus in your nose, so it won't be as plugged).

I actually find that when I try sweets (don't care for other kinds of junk food), while they go down easily, I get taste fatigue very fast. My boyfriend got a ton of candybars as a gift the other day and I thought, why not have a few bites of a Mars bar. Well, the first bite tasted good, the second one was a-ok, and after the 3rd one, I was in the mood for a cucumber instead. Same thing with Dairy Queen soft serve and other sweets I used to enjoy. I have a few bites and they start to taste gross. There's no way I could eat 2 candybars right now, even if I might have enough volume in my stomach (thank god). These candybars are still in the house and while mentally, I want some, I recall the experience, and go for carrot sticks or a few slices of pear instead.

I just got my boyfriend and I an unlimited 1-month bootcamp pass. We can't go more than 3 days a week because he has soccer and I have dance on 2 other days, but this Monday we're starting this challenge with the goal of attending a minimum of 2 sessions a week.

I heard in class last year that basically everyone who lives north of Atlanta should be taking vitamin D supplements.