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I just wondered, from people who've had the sleeve for a while, what are your must haves( Water bottle, bariatric container, trainers, etc..)

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1) my sleeve, of course. It does its job of providing restriction as long as I do my job of feeding it healthy, non slider foods.

2) kitchen scale. For the first 3 years I weighed, measured and tracked everything. This kept me accountable and on track. Lost all my excess weight and was easily maintaining. Then one day I was in the kitchen, preparing lunch for myself and my husband and my food scale wasn't working. I was talking about having to run right out and get a new one and my husband casually commented that if I don't know what 3ounces of tuna fish and 2 ounces of veggies looks like by now I have a serious learning disability. I laughed...he was right. I had been eating right for so long I really did know how to do it, so since then, no measuring and no tracking. I just eat like I had retrained myself to eat.

3) Water container. I never go anywhere without something to drink. It's kind of an obsession. I drink when I drive, in the grocery store, at home on the couch, when visiting friends, at the movies, while working, etc.

4) activity. I live and work on a farm so my regular day to day chores are as good of a workout as any gym. I also walk as much as possible....Park the furthest away in the parking lots, take stairs instead if elevators, etc.

5) But the number one key to my success is my therapist. I wouldn't be where I am without her. Saw her regularly for over 2 years then kind of stopped. Revisited with her after a bad accident left me in the hospital then wheelchair and Walker for several months. I no longer have regular appointments, but she is my go to when things get tough and I need a refresher course on handling stress and emotions.

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PS. I reread my answer and realized I forgot to post the obvious answer....eating a healthy, bariatric friendly diet. 80+ grams Protein, lots of low glycemic veggies, some fruits and whole grains. Minimizing (but not completely eliminating) high cal/low nutritive stuff like Pasta and bread and simple carbs like Desserts, candy and alcohol. Those last three are for my mental health, not my physical health ;)

In the end, how you eat to lose your weight is more or less how you need to eat in order to maintain. This commitment is forever, folks!

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I love my little starfrit kitchen scales, I have one at home and one at the office. Pinterest for low carb recipes and my little travel scale that I can bring anywhere.

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I use my digital food scale quite often and it was especially helpful in the beginning because I honestly had no clue about portion sizes.

Still use it almost every day.

The other good tool for me was the Blender Bottle. I use it when I travel for Protein shakes.

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    • LeighaTR

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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