Hi.

I'm Deb from N. Carolina. I started this whole process back in August after a visit to my regular doctor. After way too many years of yo-yo dieting and never getting the job done, it's all caught up to me. Now I'm heavier than I've ever been, my BP is on the rise and so is my cholesterol. My arthritis is terrible in my knees and ankles. I retired a couple years ago and I hate it because I can't do any of the things my husband and I talked about doing at this time in our lives. It's time to move forward.....

My surgery is scheduled for Nov.11th. I'm excited and scared at the same time. I'm hoping that others that are getting ready to have their surgery in November might be interested in connecting to create a support group. Let's make this journey together and be there to support one another no matter where we live or what our ages may be.

I've been looking at many of the other discussions and some are great, but I have a hard time keeping up with all of them in different places. I'm wondering if a group like this would make it easier to keep tract of whatever we want to talk about.

What do you think????

I look forward to hearing from folks.

Deb

This week is my third week and back to work! Awful feeling I'm thinking it's gas?? In the morning I was so hot and stomach pains felt like puking but of course nothing because I took the zofran ...next day at work stomach in knots again but also got my lovely period! Couldn't even eat my eggs too nervous but I feel like it must be gas because i feel better after the gasx strips I hope this isn't going to be a daily event now that I'm eating more items at stage 4 still not too much I can eat can't wait till

I move on to my next stage. It is getting easier but I'm very tired already!

Hi November Surgery Buddies! I just got home from my 1 month checkup. I've lost 20 lbs on their scales since my preop appt 1 week before surgery. I was really hoping for more, but they reassured me I was doing great and right on schedule. I told them about my week long stall and they said it is VERY typical for the first month - your body is still adjusting to a huge change. I finally started losing again the past couple of days and I can't tell you how happy and relieved I was to see that number finally move again. @@Dabliss111114 - hang in there! It will move!

One thing the nutritionist told me is that not getting enough protein or water will cause a stall almost every time. I had a rough week where I couldn't eat much, so I know I wasn't getting enough. That's picked back up the last few days - and the scale moved! So - go figure. I was also released to eat a regular diet with no restrictions as long as I can get in my 60 gm of protein (and of course not eat more than I should). So the first thing I asked her if I could have was PIZZA! She laughed and said of course! I am still having problems with meats of any kind so, for me it would be a thin crust cheese pizza or something like that. So I stopped on the way home and got a Lean Cuisine artichoke cheese snack size pizza that totally made my day! Funny how that would have never done it for me before surgery, but today I was so thrilled to get it!

The deal with meat is she said that after RNY, some people don't produce enough stomach acids to break down meats for a while so your small intestines have to handle it and they aren't ready for it yet either. Some handle it fine - I am just not one of them. That's okay with me for now - there are plenty of other ways I can get in protein. I love cheese! And I just discovered edamame this week, so that's another great source of protein. I will keep trying meat every now and then to see when I can finally tolerate it, but right now it feels like I've swallowed a rock and then sends me into nasty retching and other ugly stuff.

I had to get a thin crust cheese pizza as soon as I was allowed regular food too!! Nothing has tasted so amazing!! I had a lap band so very little bread will go down without very small bites and lots of chewing.

@@Wvcari - Glad I am not the only one with pizza on the brain! I was afraid the nutritionist would look horrified when I asked if I could have pizza now, or give me a lecture on how I needed to eat healthier things like sprouts or something. LOL!

Family said they could see it but I couldn't. I'm starting to see some with the side by side. Bought this outfit on clearance several weeks ago and just fit into it today.

So, I still haven't gotten on my "I know your broken" scale. But I did check two measurements, I measured almost every inch of myself the day before my surgery. The measurements I took today were of my two highest amounts. My Gut...above my belly button and below. The results...4" lost in both measurements!! Woohoo. So, my scale is saying stupid, who knows what, but the measuring tape never lies.

Regarding clothes, they all fit looser and I'm not going to go out and buy clothes as I lose. That is rediculous, especially in the winter months when you can now comfortably layer up and not feel like a stuffed sausage.

Hi gang,

I just read this article and thought I'd share it with ya'll. Let's all start doing deep breathing exercises!!!!

Exhaled Pounds: How Fat Leaves the Body

By Bahar Gholipour3 hours ago

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When you lose weight, where does it go? Turns out, most of it is exhaled.

In a new study, scientists explain the fate of fat in a human body, and through precise calculations, debunk some common misconceptions. Fat doesn't simply "turn into" energy or heat, and it doesn't break into smaller parts and get excreted, the researchers say.

In reality, the body stores the excess Protein or carbs in a person's diet in form of fat, specifically, as triglyceride molecules, which consist of just three kinds of atoms: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. For people to lose weight, their triglycerides must break up into building blocks, which happens in a process known as oxidation.

When a triglyceride is oxidized (or "burned up"), the process consumes many molecules of oxygen while producing carbon dioxide (CO2) and Water (H2O) as waste products. [8 Strange Things Scientists Taste and Eat]

So, for example, to burn 10 kilograms (22 lbs.) of fat, a person needs to inhale 29 kg (64 lbs.) of oxygen. And the chemical process of burning that fat will produce 28 kg (62 lbs.) of carbon dioxide and 11 kg (24 lbs.) of water, the researchers calculated.

"None of this biochemistry is new, but for unknown reasons it seems nobody has thought of performing these calculations before," study authors Ruben Meerman and Andrew Brown of the University of New South Wales in Australia, said. "The quantities make perfect sense but we were surprised by the numbers that popped out."

The researchers showed that during weight loss, 84 percent of the fat that is lost turns into carbon dioxide and leaves the body through the lungs, whereas the remaining 16 percent becomes water, according to the study published today (Dec. 16) in a special Christmas issue ofthe medical journal BMJ.

"These results show that the lungs are the primary excretory organ for weight loss. The water formed may be excreted in the urine, feces, sweat, breath, tears or other bodily fluids, and is readily replenished," the researchers said.

The calculations also show the frightening power of, for example, a small muffin over an hour of exercise: At rest, a person who weighs 154 pounds (70 kg) exhales just 8.9 mg of carbon with each breath. Even after an entire day, if this person only sits, sleeps, and does light activities, he or she exhales about 200 grams of carbon, the researchers calculated.

A 100 g muffin can cover 20 percent of what was lost.

On the other hand, replacing one hour of rest with exercise such as jogging, removes an additional 40 g of carbon from the body, the researchers said.

Even if one traces the fates of all the atoms in the body, the secret to weight loss remains the same: In order to lose weight, one needs to either eat less carbon or exercise more to remove extra carbon from the body.

That is really interesting... I'm gonna breath deep and hard today.

THE scale HAS FINALLY STARTING MOVING AGAIN!!!! If I could actually jump for joy I would!!

I thought I'd never get past that first stall. I finally dropped below the 280 mark. That's 35lbs. so far.

I'm feeling optimistic again.

Off to finish Christmas shopping today. I guess I'll be sure to get my walking in today.

Everyone have a great day!

dabliss111114, I'm right there with you. Just got off the scale at my Dr. Office....6 more pounds.

My scale started moving again this week too but oh, so slowly!!! I lost about a pound a day for the first couple of weeks or so and it was like Christmas morning as a kid every morning! Now it is like Christmas morning as an adult - who just gets socks and underwear! It inches down a couple of tenths of a pound at a time. Agonizing! But at least it is moving and in the right direction!

On a better note, I am able to tolerate meat again! Or at least chicken, which is all I've been brave enough to try again so far. I am very happy about this because it was getting REALLY boring eating the same non-meat stuff for Protein. And now I should be able to fix regular meals again for my husband and I with just teeny little portions for me. He wasn't interested when all that I could have was cottage cheese or egg salad! So, he will be happy too to take a break from all the frozen dinners. First up tomorrow - asian lettuce wraps!

I'm about a month out and it is easier but I feel sick most of the time I can't seem to eat and drink enough because of not feeling good..I don't understand

I'm about a month out and it is easier but I feel sick most of the time I can't seem to eat and drink enough because of not feeling good..I don't understand

So sorry to hear that you're still having a hard time with not feeling well. It does get easier, so give up hope. Have you spoken to your docs office about how you're feeling? If you're not doing a lot better within the next few days, I'd put in a call to them before the Christmas Holiday weekend. There probably isn't anything wrong, but it would be hard to reach someone if you really started feeling badly next week. If you let them know what's going on they may have some advice and it'll give you piece of mind.

Hang in there and take care.

Scale hasn't budged in a week! Urgh! I know this is my first stall but darn it sucks.

Anyone get the hungries in the evening?

Night time was always the time that I ate the most. I am still feeling the desire to eat at night, but I wouldn't necessarily say it was a physical hunger. I always have had a difficult time differentiating between the two.