foxgirl74

Don't pack your tortilla's suitcase yet!! There are these incredible Carb Balance Tortillas by Mission, they are delish, and I do not get the stuck feeling with them. They only have 18 cabrs per tortilla, which trust me is more then what fits, I think 11 grams of Fiber, and 5 grams of protein!!! Trust me, they are a great alternative that is not actually an alternative.

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.

That's awesome! Congratulations!

You look wonderful, so radiant and happy! CONGRATS!

You look fab!!! Congrats on your awesome weight loss!
I too am planning to get a tattoo once I reach my goal or atleast once I'm 15 lbs near goal!!

Congratulations on your sleevaversary! You look amazing!!

AMAZING testimonial!!!! YOU LOOK GREAT!!!! CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woww! You have done really great! Keep Rockin your Sleeve!

What a great story!!!

Congrats and Happy Sleeviversary!

You look great, congrats!

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!!
   

Well, first of all, you can disagree with someone and still be friends. Ask me how many years it took me to learn that! LOL
Secondly, your stomach is not necessarily a "vital organ". You CAN live without a stomach completely, perhaps with alternate feeding methods, but don't sweat the pesky details. The sleeve gastrectomy has been done for years and years as a treatment for cancer, ulcers and other stomach issues. My late mother in law had one because of stomach cancer. It is a safe and well-researched operation.
Thirdly, your current stomach has either been stretched out, or is larger than the stomach of other people because you can and do eat more than others. It contains a hormone called ghrelin which causes hunger feelings, and larger stomachs produce more ghrelin, causing you to eat more and gain weight. What the doctor will do is remove the part of the stomach that produces ghrelin, which keeps you from feeling as much hunger and restricts the amount of food you can eat. This will automatically lead to weight loss in the short term and will, hopefully, give you some time to learn how to eat more normally.
Fourth, having this surgery will help eliminate or prevent co-morbidities which could shorten your life. No parent wants to see their child die young, so this should be the deciding factor for your father.
Good luck!!

Plain and simple: We complain because we are SCARED TO DEATH THAT THIS WILL BE ANOTHER FAILED ATTEMPT AT WEIGHT LOSS. I am a little peeved that this topic is even here, but whatevs. We have been struggling with weight loss for years and we have failed. This is an extreme last resort at finally getting the weight off. It is a total head game. We KNOW that 85% of our stomach has been removed, We KNOW that we eat like birds and that we don't eat enough not to loose, We KNOW it is calories in vs calories out. We have ALL done the pre-op work. What we don't know is that if this surgery was done in vain and if we have our hopes and expectations up to high. Obviously it is the norm to be upset about the scale not moving. We have all of our hopes in this surgery and we are afraid of failing. THAT'S WHY WE COMPLAIN.

Sometimes we just need to vent and talk about our fears. I know that being in a stall makes us feel like we have failed in yet another diet. That is our emotional self talking, our cognition knows that we are in a stall and that we will continue to lose. Writing about it takes away some of the frustration. I was thinking that I didn't weight my self for the first 5-6 weeks and so I didn't know if i was in a stall or not. Now I weight myself everyday and I'm fluctuating. So I have decided to put the scale away and only weight 1 time per week. Eat healthy and exercise daily. That is all I can do. Have a wonderful day.....

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!!

Was this person you spoke someone reputable? Have they researched the sleeve enough for you to trust them? Is it your surgeon? Who is this?
Why have you let them occupy so much space in your head?
It is obvious to me this person has no idea about the finer details of VSG and you should not give weight to their advice. My guess is this is a family member or someone who has an emotional attachment to you who is a bit jealous of your decision to take back control of something you had lost. People are intimidated by someone who can do things they can't do. They feel the only way they can feel better about themselves and their decisions is to sabotage the other by getting inside their head.
Indymom is absolutely correct. The fundus has been removed. Your sleeve can stretch a bit, just like your wallet can, but by no means is it going to regain the 85% that was removed. I asked my Dr this directly and he told me that I would really have to put forward a concerted effort to stretch my sleeve.
Besides, it would be quantity, not quality of the food. Fried, greasy food is not going to stretch it anymore than a chicken breast would.
Evict the tenant in your head, yes. But also stop eating the bad foods. It keeps you from your program and puts a "For Rent" sign on your head. If you wanted to make a change by getting sleeved, then make a change.

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!!

Veda, It might have been the milk, not the sugar.
Ian and Debi, SouthernSleever is right, you do not want to cause a leak in your new tummy. You both just need to get back on track and keep moving forward.
Debi, you don't need to beat yourself up, though. Just follow your plan and do what you know you need to do from here on out. You had a tiny cheat, but you recognized it and you are now back on track. Once you're back on solid foods, things will be much easier. Your "bad eating habits" will be much easier to kick because you will have restriction from eating solid foods.
Good luck to you all on your journeys!!

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.