First off, I just want to say I have the most supportive friends a person could ask for. My best friend in the whole wide world came to hospital every day the four days I was there after my surgery. He stayed for several hours, if he didn't have work, at a time, even when I was drugged up and sleeping. He even contemplated skipping one of his classes so he could stay with me, but I told him no, especially since finals were drawing near, lol. Now that that is out of the way, onto the story.

I consider myself in between the pureed and soft food stage, because while I still puree some stuff, my doctor gave me the go ahead to try some soft foods. Like I said, my friends are super supportive. I went to a Christmas party at my friend's house, and the two that were planning the food put a lot of thought and consideration into what they would have at the party based on what I could eat. One of my friend's signature dishes is homemade mac and cheese, and she made it with reduced fat cheese so I could have it since more fattening cheese makes me very sick right now. They also had some sort of chili cheese dip and crab meat dip. They know soda is my weakness, mainly coke and sprite, so my friend hid it before I got there, lol! He even bought my favorite diet juice drink just for me and gave me a saucer sized plate so I couldn't overload.

Well, at the party, I probably ate more than I should. I never really felt the signals that I was eating too much at one time (ie burping, slimies, etc), but it was more like I was grazing throughout the night. I started out with about, I'm really bad at measurements, 2-3 ounces of the chili cheese dip and a few noodles of the mac and cheese and it was amazing. Drank some juice afterwards and then stopped for about an hour, before I had some of the meat from the deli tray, probably about four pepperoni sized pieces. We started playing a game so I mainly sipped Water during that time. Afterwards, I had some more of the chili cheese dip and some crab dip on a couple of crackers (I know, I know, some consider carbs evil but I couldn't resist ) and a cube of cheese from the deli tray. All in all, I probably grazed on about 8 ounces of food in a 5 hour time period. By the end of the night, I realized I probably ate way too much, and I felt a bit of heaviness in my stomach, but luckily no nausea or slimies, just a bit of burping. The next day on Wednesday, I was reluctant to go on my scale because I was certain I had gained. Turns out, I had lost 1.2 pounds! Wasn't sure if I was ever going to say this, because in the beginning I severely regretted my surgery, but I love my sleeve!

I tried on my favorite jeans last week and I can fit more than a hand's width in between the waistband and my stomach! I was even more surprised when I looked at the tag and saw they were actually a size 22, when I had thought they were a size 24! I wore them a few days later and while visiting my mom, she said, "you need to stop wearing those pants, they're practically hanging off your hips." It was a great feeling. I can now comfortably wear a size 20, when before they would be digging into my stomach so much, I'd resort to unbuttoning them and hope my shirt covered it.

I work in a movie theater and we are given two t-shirts for work. Well, a week before my surgery last month, we got new shirts for the holiday season. I wasn't sure what size I needed so I had my manager give me an XL and 2X and I would just trade the size I didn't need for another of the size I did. Tried on the 2X first, and it was too big, so I tried on the XL and while a bit snug, it fit better. Yes, I was definitely pear-shaped because I could wear an XL shirt but needed size 24 pants. Well, the district manager was working with me the next day and I told her I needed to trade in my shirt. After one of the supervisors went upstairs to switch them out, he couldn't find another XL, so my manager suggested I just get a 2X. I politely told her no (since I knew I would be having the surgery in a few days and it'd be a waste), and I'm glad I did because now my XL is too big! It'll probably be another month before I can comfortably wear a size large, but it feels good to physically be able to see my weight loss.

The first two weeks after my surgery, even though I was throwing up the whole time, I had cravings like crazy. I wanted pizza, nachos, bread, etc. Now that I'm a little more than a month out, my cravings have gotten better, except a time or two here and there. Well, for the aforementioned Christmas party, I was supposed to make Cookies. I made sugar cookies, and before my surgery I would use a spoon to get whatever leftover batter there was, but I really didn't have the temptation to this time. Well, I bought some vanilla whipped topping and used food coloring to make it red and green, for Christmas. While stirring, naturally I got some on me. The first time I did was the only time I licked it off, out of habit mainly, but after realizing what I did, it was pretty easy to just keep a paper towel next to me to wipe it off. To me, that's a big accomplishment.

Those are my NSVs (so far ) and sorry for the long post! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

Oh, and also at the Christmas party, one of my guy friends was flirting with me! We've known each for a long time but have never been super close. He was always more interested in another one of my friends. Not in a mean way, but he just never paid much attention to me in that way. It helps that I was wearing a pretty awesome looking outfit that would have been way too tight on me before my surgery.

That i totally an accomplishment! Welcome to the new you. Sounds like your feeling better about yourself. Keep up the hard work! your worth it... Merry Christmas! LOL

Great NSVs! Also sounds like you have some great, supportive friends - that's so important.