foxgirl74

So I have not really been one this site much over the last few months, but it was the place that got me started on this fantastic journey so a progress report is in order!

One year ago today I have VSG. I would do it again in a heartbeat and recommend it for soooo many people out there with this struggle. It has not been the easiest thing ever, and I still have battles with overeating, food addictions, and lack of self control, but I have overall made changes that have literally turned my life into complete awesomeness. Seriously.

I started with my consultation weighing 246 pounds, and today I weighed in at 145.5 pounds. Yep, 100 pounds in one year, which was a major goal for me and I was able to do it! I still have 20 pounds to go, but I am steadily still loosing small amounts of weights each month and I will get there.

I cannot stress the impact if learning to love exercising enough. I joined a gym and found a way to not only keep me there, but now I am in a position to help others on their path by having become a cardio kickboxing instructor.

If you told me a year ago this is where I would be today I would not have believed you or have trusted that VSG would work, or that I would have been able to retrain my brain to this extent. There is no replacement for a healthy body and mind, which has helped to literally make me a healthier soul.

I love this community and cannot thank you guys enough for all the support over the last year, and hope you are all doing great with your own journeys and am here for anyone who needs help, advice, or just a listening ear!

Now it's reward time, a long awaited treat, off to get my new tattoo!!

Good post! I am going to challenge myself to do full body weights( with a program called Group Power my gym runs) at least twice a week. I am ready to take my fitness to a whole new level and do many 5k's this year, but toning is essential for fat burn and my cardio is no longer cutting it. I just became a kick boxing instructor(Group Kick) at my gym, and teach a class two days a week, and I had been doing kick boxing between 3-5 days a week, but I am ready to change it up. Two days kick, two days weights, and one to two days cardio endurance training or another fun exercise with my family!

Sounds like you are right on track. The first post was actually some really good insight, because your body is freaking out and thinking(correctly) that it is in starvation mode and needs to protect itself. This will change because, well, physics -You are burning more then you are consuming. As far as carbs go, a good beginning number is to stay under 40 carbs per day. And if that is yielding no results, stay under 30. I found switching out my cheese with low fat cottage cheese was great because you get all the same Protein, but way less calories, and honestly, more mass. This becomes more important later when you can fit more. Drinking Water right now is the biggest thing you can do to jump start your weight, along with exercising, so your surgeon can freak out and get mad all he wants, but his job is to provide the tool to help you lose weight, and if it's not working because of simple common sense of your body reaction to the weight loss so far, then he is more concerned about his personal stats and numbers versus helping you be healthier. Either way, the scale does move. It's seemingly just as slow and painstakingly as it was doing diets prior to WLS, but trust me, take it a day at a time and make the best choices you can and you'll get there before you know it!!

@ runner, I was cheating, if that what you call it. It was in no way cheating like i used to but I was cheating none the less. I got it into my head that maybe I wasn't eating enough calories to lose weight. So yeah I was cheating but honestly I was still not even getting close to 1000 calories a day, I couldn't lol.

I am just concerned that I am doing something wrong, like maybe the cheese has too many carbs or too much fat. I'm just so fed-up with the scale not moving that I keep telling myself I MUST be doing something wrong! I am not writing what I eat down so I am going to start tallying my stuff up because I want to see if I have some problems somewhere. I hate stalls.

I keep trying to tell myself that it happens and to not be mad but I am. My poop is good LOL I try not to get too excited when I poop and lose weight though because poop will happen again and I will weigh more again.

Thanks for all your replies though I really appreciate it. I was still wondering how many carbs people are eating? Is there a magic number I should try to shoot for?

I got into a cardio kickboxing class at my gym. I went the first time never expecting to go back (a friend talked me into it) and now, less than 3 months later, I am doing my video taping to become a kick boxing instructor because I love it so much. It never feels like I "have" to go work out, but I always get in a great fun work out that flies by in 60 minutes. It has cardio and conditioning so I am not missing out by not walking/jogging or by not lifting weights. I cannot express how much I love it and I feel it really motivated me and kept me going in this weight loss process. I jog on the treadmill, and do a spin class and lift weights every now and again, but seriously, I do the carido kickboxing 3-5 times a week and am going to teach my own class starting in January. Far cry from the morbidly obese girl posting on here 9 months ago!!

Awesome!!! I just signed up for Rage Mud Run for April 7th, which is pretty much a Tough Mudder for people not quite ready to do that many miles But I plan on doing the Tough Mudder in 2013. Make sure you post the pictures after your epic adventure!!

I had a c-section with my son and recovery wise that was WAY worse then having VSG surgery. The only difference, for me, was the major grogginess coming out of the anesthesia. That drove me crazy, especially since I was told to get up and walk as soon as possible, so I was mentally wanting to, but could barely keep my eyes open. Once that wore off I was literally good to go. Hardly any pain, just took the bare minimum pain meds for a little ease and was then up and walking, bending carefully and moving pretty good. The c-section had me needing help for weeks, I was self sufficient the next day with this surgery. Oh, and I had 5 incisions, with glue, no drains. I did have a small, travel size pillow, for getting in and out of bed, just so I would not pull the internal stitches and damage anything, but just use common sense and I'm sure you'll do great, best of luck!!

I live in a pretty small city so only one of our grocery stores carries them - Fry's

But I know there is a huge selection at Whole Foods Markets and I am pretty sure Trader Joe's might even have them. Any whole foods type place should carry them, or in the organic/healthy section at your largest grocery store.

Oh yes, the Morning Star Grillers Prime are excellent, in my opinion, but haven't tried too much of their other products.

I personally love the Gardein fake meat products. They are high in Protein and actually taste great to me. If nothing else at least try the Gardein Beefless Tips, they are seriously awesome. Next best is the Quorn brand, they have some "chicken" patties that seem a lot like actual chicken patties. I have been told that too much of these products can cause some stomach problems, but I have not had any problems with them so far. I don't see any reason why you cannot have hummus after surgery once you are in your pureed stage.

I am a struggling vegetarian and find myself living off of eggs, cottage cheese and Gardein products. I don't care much for the Boca brand, and tolerate the Quorn fairly well, but would prefer to get my main Protein from vegetable based sources. I am rather unfortunately uneducated as well as I would like in what and how to prepare the best types of veggie protein dishes, but mostly I am lazy which is why I usually go with the eggs, cottage cheese or Gardein brand. But I believe 100% in being vegetarian and gathering plenty of protein from the awesome veggies out there so don't give up, and neither will I! I believe it is the key to our long term success!! If you ever want to see some samples of my daily intake I log into sparkpeople.com and try to keep a daily log, but have been kind of bad as of late. But it might give you a few ideas.....? (FOXRIDER) Like I said, I am struggling to become fully vegetarian so for now I do tend to have something like turkey burgers on Tuesday's (meat for one meal only), and maybe meat on Thursday's (again, one meal only). Oh, and I don't do milk but find a little extra protein in the Soy milk I drink several days a week. Find a protein mix you can tolerate, for me it was Monster Milk, and add a half scoop or scoop to up your protein, if you want.

I am 8 months out from surgery and became a (struggling, mostly) vegetarian about a month ago. I fully feel it is the way to go and if you do enough research you will find you can get 100% of the required Protein from plant based foods. It is much more difficult then just eating meat and I honestly still drink a Protein Drink almost every morning simply because it makes getting my quota that much easier. I do not think I could, or should, go vegan simply because the cheese and eggs have been helpful for me in eating better and getting protein, and to be very honest, I am not a vegetarian for animal "rights" reasons whatsoever. A typical day for me is a Protein Shake and egg for Breakfast, a salad and Beans of some-sort for lunch, and often I have a meat-like vegetarian product for dinner along with vegetables or whole grains. I really love the Gardein brand because they taste very meat-like and have high protein. Also, Quorn has some great meat-like products that are high protein that are easy to add into meals. My weight loss has slowed, but I do not think that has to do with adding in a few more carbs and changing my diet as much as it has to do with a natural body change after loosing the weight I have. Long term, I know this is the better, healthier way for me to maintain my health versus just having a lower number on the scale. If you have any more questions go for it, I have done quite a bit of work trying to switch over and still follow a higher protein weight loss diet. Best of luck whichever way you go with!!

All I can say is - redefine everything you know!!! I have found is that no matter what, we still have a choice. We have stomach surgery, not brain surgery. So, remember, you know what is best to create the body you have worked so hard so far to start making, so those cravings that have are detrimental, but not monumental. Stay true to you, and evaluate yourself week, by week. Best of luck!!

This is not encouragement because I know there is a much deeper issue that needs addressed, but I have to admit I want your problem. I want to be too thin, and have an eating disorder with a low weight versus my former/current disorder of eating too much and being overweight. There is no "win" either way, because there is something mental about this far more then I think we understand. I would seek some counsel, and not just for the eating issues, because I think extends further then that.

I do drink an energy drink every now and again. My doctor said stay away from caffeine because of increased stomach acid, but I take a pill daily anyway and have not noticed an increase. I do, however, have no tolerance for any carbonation whatsoever, which is not good for you anyway, so I would suggest either the Monster Rehab, which is tea and lemonade and has only 20 calories in the entire can, or the Rockstar Recovery kinds, which are lemonade, grape and orange which all have only 20 calories and are carbonation free. All of them are also very low carbs, so if you have to have a pick me up these are ideal, and you can sip on them throughout the day to avoid that shaky side affect. They all also have B12 in them I am fairly positive.

I had surgery the day before you and I can admit my weight loss has come to what feels like a screeching halt! I have answers, but they are not fun ones. First, our metabolisms are freaking out. We cannot lose more the 20 pounds and expect our body not to freak out think it is going into starvation mode. Second, the less you weigh, the harder to have to work to burn the same amount of calories. This park sucks the most to me because I have my comfort zones and I convince myself that I am doing good because I am still doing "something", when in reality the intensity must be enhanced to keep producing desired results. And last, and the least fun reason, we are starting to eat more. And I can only speak for myself, but I know I am not as honest and true to my diet as I should be. Granted I am doing SO much better then ever before, but we have an optimal time frame to be loosing weight, so keeping yourself dedicated and focused is essential. I do not believe in lose weight the first year or you never will crap, but it will never be easier then it is today, either. I would go ahead and do the pouch test, it won't hurt and if you have not seen results after doing the test and sticking to your diet for at least a week after I would talk to your surgeon and nutritionist to see if there might be another reason why you are not loosing. Best of luck, I know this struggle is hard!!

Is anyone else out there at the 6 month mark and loosing so slowly they want to scream?? i have been loosing slowly from the start,no big losses for me at all,im wondering what im doing wrong.Can anyone out there help with some info? i dont think i want to try the pouch test,but might if i dont soon have results

Oh oh oh me! I'll answer!! lol

Now it will be different with each person because it depends on the company you work for and what they buy into with each UHC plan, but I was freaking out because I did not have a BMI of 40 or higher for over 5 years, but I DID have an obese BMI on file for five years. In fact, I did not even have those collectively since one year I did not see a doctor so they just went to a year prior. I think I showed 2005, and then 2007-2010. The only year I had documented with a BMI over 40, was 2010, all the rest the ranges were around 35-38.

I have heard great things about them and their approval rates so far so best of luck, you will not regret it!!!

If UHC ChoicePlus requires a 40+ bmi for 5 years, how strict is that rule? If anyone has been able to bend that rule, please let me know. It's really stressing me out and I can't get a reply from my Ins. Coor. I have plenty of comorbitities but I hear it doesn't matter. I guess I'm just wondering how flexible are insurance companies.

A good number of them are delayed release, which again makes me curious if any one has used them and had any results. I guess I worry because I feel like as we slow down and hit stalls if they would be useful or not, or worse, damaging. I am going to ask my surgeon about them, even though I will get the "you know you are crazy for asking" look. But I simply want to know.

I would start wondering if their mechanism of action would change, especially with a smaller stomach. Aren't some of those delayed release?

Ok, so this might seem like a totally crazy and strange question to be asking, and I apologize if this question was already asked and I missed it, but I was wondering if anyone has taken diet or weight loss pills after having weight loss surgery? I know it seems weird considering that the surgery would seem to eliminate that need so I am guessing no one would feel like they would have to spend money on weight loss aids, but I am just wondering about it. Prior to weight loss I had tried several types such as Hydroxycut, Lipo 6 Black and Alli. I was told by my surgeon to be very careful with my caffeine intake because it increases stomach acid, but I have not had really any issues with the small amounts of caffeine I have continued to take. Anyway, seems kind of strange and maybe these pills would be a huge waste of money (not that I plan on using them, I am just very curious) so if any of you have used these pills after surgery I would love to hear about the results or info given to you about them from your surgeons. Thank you!

So glad to hear you were approved!!!

Funny, I have UHC and never received a letter or call from them, everything went completely through my surgeon's office and I later got a statement from UHC informing me they had paid their amount and to be aware I might be billed from the surgeon's for the % they don't cover. Five months later I still have not got anything....oh well, just glad it's done and over with, and paid for!!! Best of luck!!!!

I'll totally jump in on this one, I need some extra motivation!!!

SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal

foxgirl74...........246................175...........150.............25

Not sure if this is really possible in the two month time frame, but I am gonna shoot for it since I already promised myself I would finish my sleeve tattoo for my birthday on November 2nd if I can reach that 150lb mark!! So wish me luck and good luck to everyone else!!!

The impression I was given from my surgeon was that I would need to be on a chewable, liquid or powder Vitamin for the rest of life because pill forms pass through the pouch too quickly and not enough Vitamins are then released into the body. I will double check with him on this because I much rather take a pill form if possible. But this was the rule for just about anything I was told, pain medication, antibiotics....pretty much all other pills would have to be in the same form, except for the anti-acids.

Get you some Centrum people. It is not that big and is the ONLY Vitamin out there that is COMPLETE!!

I have been swallowing them daily since week 4. No issues at all!

Kelly

Sorry it took so long to get back to you!! My Vitamin levels all came back great! With the exception of Vitamin D, which did not shock me considering that is the Vitamin I have the hardest time taking and have been only taking two a day (as the package recommends) and need to really be taking four! But there were not at risky or worrisome levels, just needed to be aware and increase my intake. I still take all the Target chewables each day, except I still have some Iron left over from BA, but son as those are gone I will be picking some up at Walmart or GNC. I just got some great chewable Biotin from Walmart that tastes great and fairly cheap. I wish I could tolerate the Calcium and Vitamin D chews better, but I still take them daily and just need to suck it up and take 4 a day. Also, I do double the Multi-Vitamin each day which ensures I am getting the right amount of Vitamins since I still only eat about 800 calories a day.

Hello Foxgirl, wondering how your vitamin levels went Curious if the gummy vitamins are high enough for us

As horrible as it sounds I did gain weight so I could qualify for surgery because I wasn't fat enough. How terrible is that?? My BMI had to be over 40, and it was around 39 ish, and I was also worried because I did not have a BMI over 40 for 5 years straight. Thankfully that was not needed as I was approved. I think because there is so little you have to gain I would either gain the few pounds you need (you lose them quick with the pre-surgery diet or right after surgery) or I have heard that people have used ankle weights, or slipped weights into their pockets. Sometimes just having something on file like depression or anxiety can help as a co-morbidity too, so something to consider. Good luck!!!

Don't be discouraged, right around 65 pounds lost my body went completely shut down mode and did not want to budge either. I think it is kind of survival mode. I am losing again, but super slow, and that is ok because it is healthier. Frustrating, but it will still come off. 6 pounds in 30 days is still excellent, and it means you are still loosing, and not going backward!! Just focus on the important stuff, like massive Water intake. When in doubt, drink some more water, of all things it will probably help the most. I have also read from someone on here that once your body reaches a weight that it had been at for a long period of time it tried to stay there. So for me, 180-185 ish was my normal weight for a good part of my life, so my body did NOT want to leave that weight range. Maybe this is the case?

Crosswind, I really appreciate this post. I have been feeling very similar for weeks now. But I do have to admit it is a struggle because while I am happy to just be losing weight, I feel like we all have waited so long to be the "skinny" person that it is hard to not try and rush the process. In addition, there is so much pressure for me personally from my surgeon. While I am down 60 pounds in 4 months, I still have a 16 week check-up this coming Tuesday that I am expected to weigh a certain amount at. On top of that expected amount my surgeon expressed that if I worked real hard I could weigh ten pounds less then that goal, so it was additional pressure on top of the high expectation already. It makes it much harder to just live "normal", I did for about two and a half weeks and still lost a few pounds, but since I have this deadline in mind, along with personal desire to just be skinny already, I felt very guilty the entire 2 and a half weeks!! Despite eating way less then I used to and still exercising some. Nonetheless, it's good to know that when I am ready to stop the mental guilt and killing myself over food and work outs, that I should be able to be ok thanks to my sleeve and still loose some weight or maintain it anyway!