Good evening all! I was thinking that we should start a thread on this forum where we post an update on our progress, challenges, frustrations, or just a place for us to unload about anything we want to while on this unique journey. There aren’t many esg people out there compared to the other WLS so I thought that this particular thread could help us bond together. To be honest I feel so close to so many of you that I really want to keep that relationship for as long as possible. So even if you are preop I want us each to post an update on how their week has progressed. Please write whatever you felt was important about your week pre or post esg. It could be a that you’ve moved on to solids or you’ve lost a nice amount of weight for that week or you really struggled or perhaps you are starting to revert back to the old habits that got us here in the first place. Let’s try and update every Monday starting on December 4, 2017. My hope is we will become more accountable for our food choices and possibly stop any member from falling off track. Let us all make a commitment to one another and post our week’s successes and failures. If we had a successful week then we can guide others to do the same. If we’ve had a bad week then perhaps posting it will get us back on track. I know by now most of you are hating my long posts, lol, ?? but I think if we stick to posting our progress or lack of at least once a week we can minimize failure and encourage one another. Come on gang I hope you are all with me ??????

I’ll post Monday although I’m in the preop stage. I’ll post about whatever things I’m worried about leading to my esg or something I discovered about it for the week. Looking forward to reading all of the updates every Monday on this thread. We can do this!!!!

Well my beloved friends, thank God I think my stall may be over!!???? I have lost an additional 3 lbs. for a total of 12 lbs. in exactly 17 days since my procedure. All of your advice was extremely useful. Thanks Tex for all of the tips on getting in the protein and I love the muscle milk as well. That has become my go to shake. Amy, it was the water. I was not drinking enough and when I starting to be more vigilant about my water intake that’s when I got over my stall. Thank you for reminding me about the most basic rule! Thanks Mel for your constant and unending words of encouragement. You told me to be patient and stick to the plan and I will break through the stall and I did.

Thanks to everyone!I have come to depend on you all for this journey so stay with us and keep posting about your progress. I still have a long way to go and need you all to stay with me please.

Im going to post my #s, only because I’m finally at a point where I am comfortable enough to say those huge #s are a thing of the past and I hope for good!!!

Female, 43 years old, 5’5” tall

HW—201lbs. ?‍♀️?‍♀️

Sw— 200 lbs.

CW— 188lbs.

GW— 155 lbs.

Can you please post your #s as well so I’m not the only one exposed? ??

Edited February 23, 20188 yr by hope4momof4

1 hour ago, hope4momof4 said:

Well my beloved friends, thank God I think my stall may be over!!???? I have lost an additional 3 lbs. for a total of 12 lbs. in exactly 17 days since my procedure. All of your advice was extremely useful. Thanks Tex for all of the tips on getting in the Protein and I love the muscle milk as well. That has become my go to shake. Amy, it was the Water. I was not drinking enough and when I starting to be more vigilant about my water intake that’s when I got over my stall. Thank you for reminding me about the most basic rule! Thanks Mel for your constant and unending words of encouragement. You told me to be patient and stick to the plan and I will break through the stall and I did.

Thanks to everyone!I have come to depend on you all for this journey so stay with us and keep posting about your progress. I still have a long way to go and need you all to stay with me please.

Im going to post my #s, only because I’m finally at a point where I am comfortable enough to say those huge #s are a thing of the past and I hope for good!!!

Female, 43 years old, 5’5” tall

HW—201lbs. ?‍♀️?‍♀️

Sw— 200 lbs.

CW— 188lbs.

GW— 155 lbs.

Can you please post your #s as well so I’m not the only one exposed? ??

Fantastic news Hope4mom!

Yes I will post my numbers:

57yrs old (oy)

5'1" (shorty)

SW- 159

CW 132.5

GW 127

Inspirational Amy!! I love to see that success. Are you still on puréed foods or are you eating regular foods just less?

So happy for you!!! Only 5 pounds left!!! I can only imagine how amazing you look. ???

10 minutes ago, hope4momof4 said:

Inspirational Amy!! I love to see that success. Are you still on puréed foods or are you eating regular foods just less?

So happy for you!!! Only 5 pounds left!!! I can only imagine how amazing you look. ???

Thank you Hope4mom! I'm feeling good - getting a lot of comments when people see me - and am fitting into my "skinny jeans" if ya know what I mean?

I have not done any clothing shopping but I may give it a shot tomorrow.

I've been eating regular food for over two months now - I think in the 7th week is when I started eating pretty normally. I just eat less of it, and I keep it really simple. I weigh everything. No white carbs, rice, bread, potatoes etc. I did start adding brown rice and some brown rice cakes to the mix a few weeks ago and all seems good. The only thing I haven't added back in is alcohol. I'm not much of a drinker and don't miss it, so why add the extra calories I say.

4 weeks for me still to go before my ESG so lovely to hear all of ya storys of how of goes. im so nerveus doe ESG but all of you keep me focus where i wanna be. thnx all

Sent from my SM-G935F using BariatricPal mobile app

On 2/21/2018 at 11:13 AM, AmyAlexis said:

Hope4 - You're doing great!

Be sure to drink your Water (do as I say, not as I do because I hate to drink water and it was a challenge for me) - if you're not drinking enough water you will retain water and that could be affecting the scale.

If you're taking in 700-800 cals/day You will continue to lose weight. I use myfitnesspal.com to keep me honest. I record everything I put in my mouth to keep track of the calories. I also weigh everything because I don't trust my eyes. Those two things are a big help for me.

AmyA

AmyAlexis, wow thanks, awesome reminder! I was in a stall for ~7-10 days and hadn't lost a pound, even gained one back. Getting a bit frustrated and it's amazing how frustration can lead to meaningless evening grazing (confession- even if it was just nuts). After reading your post I realized I had started to ignore my water consumption being "too busy at work" and also not drinking any water in the evening. I was getting dehydrated (TMI - color of urine).

Last couple of days I have been back to drinking 80+ ounces of water each day, including drinking 2-3 glasses of Crystal Light Red Rasberry ice tea in the evenings after dinner (don't "need" snacks, just liquids) and getting back to a better place (clear).

I'm down 2 pounds this week and I made it to 40 pounds lost!!! Last time I was in the 260's was >15 years ago and I was in my 30's (very old man here!)

I will hit the half way mark towards my goal in the next week! Feeling great about this since my surgery was Nov 21! Thanks agin for the reminder, worked for me!! Take care!

Tex

3 hours ago, patriciaholland said:

4 weeks for me still to go before my ESG so lovely to hear all of ya storys of how of goes. im so nerveus doe ESG but all of you keep me focus where i wanna be. thnx all

Sent from my SM-G935F using BariatricPal mobile app

patriciaholland, don't be nervous and please feel free to ask us any questions. We have all been there and shared the same worries. The procedure itself is not complex and the recovery is not long lasting. Take the anti-nausea meds, get plenty of liquids and in the first days after your procedure get up and walk around quite a bit. You can be gassy as your stomach adjusts post ESG and I found walking around to solve any gas pain in ~30 seconds. Also I slept "sitting up" (on pillows on my couch) the first 2-3 nights so that my stomach wasn't horizontal. My Dr. recommended this to minimize gas and I found that it worked well.

Best thing you can do is mentally be ready and commit to changing your health and life for the better. This is your chance to make that change and as you have seen from us you can do it!

You will find the procedure provides an incredible boost to your will power and the "desire" for eating will be fundamentally different post ESG. Keep chatting with us and we will help you get there too!

Tex

3 hours ago, patriciaholland said:

4 weeks for me still to go before my ESG so lovely to hear all of ya storys of how of goes. im so nerveus doe ESG but all of you keep me focus where i wanna be. thnx all

Sent from my SM-G935F using BariatricPal mobile app

I know you’ll do great Patricia! Keep focused on preparing yourself for your esg by starting to change eating habits. I know it’s hard before esg to do this but once you have had your procedure it will amaze you how you can walk away from bad foods and make better choices. Don’t stress too much about your eating before, I did, but it will of course be hard to stick to a strict plan. I just think you should start to think about getting off of soda and carbonated drinks if you are addicted to them and drinking more water. The water part is still a challenge for me but I’m taking it one step at a time. I take in like 80g. of protein a day with very little food and I feel great. The weight is coming off and I have tons of energy. I’m sure you will as well. Looking forward to hearing about your success!!!

21 hours ago, hope4momof4 said:

Well my beloved friends, thank God I think my stall may be over!!???? I have lost an additional 3 lbs. for a total of 12 lbs. in exactly 17 days since my procedure. All of your advice was extremely useful. Thanks Tex for all of the tips on getting in the Protein and I love the muscle milk as well. That has become my go to shake. Amy, it was the Water. I was not drinking enough and when I starting to be more vigilant about my water intake that’s when I got over my stall. Thank you for reminding me about the most basic rule! Thanks Mel for your constant and unending words of encouragement. You told me to be patient and stick to the plan and I will break through the stall and I did.

Thanks to everyone!I have come to depend on you all for this journey so stay with us and keep posting about your progress. I still have a long way to go and need you all to stay with me please.

Im going to post my #s, only because I’m finally at a point where I am comfortable enough to say those huge #s are a thing of the past and I hope for good!!!

Female, 43 years old, 5’5” tall

HW—201lbs. ?‍♀️?‍♀️

Sw— 200 lbs.

CW— 188lbs.

GW— 155 lbs.

Can you please post your #s as well so I’m not the only one exposed? ??

hope4momof4, hey you're not exposed, great idea to share this info, we're all in this together! Awesome start 12 lbs is a big deal!

Male 52 years old, 6'2" tall

HW - 330 lbs

SW - 308 lbs

CW - 268 lbs

GW - 225 lbs - Call me crazy this is a goal to get back to my college weight

--> You inspired me to add a ticker to my signature and share this info with each post. Thanks for that, I think our transparency and honesty about the process of changing our lives is one of the greatest gifts that we can give those people on the forum who haven't decided to do a procedure. Reading posts on this forum is what got me "over the hump" to have an ESG and I am so grateful for the information that enabled me to take that decision. I feel so much better physically and mentally about my body and my life going forward only 3 months after having the ESG!

Keep in touch, Tex

14 minutes ago, Tex Slim 66 said:

AmyAlexis, wow thanks, awesome reminder! I was in a stall for ~7-10 days and hadn't lost a pound, even gained one back. Getting a bit frustrated and it's amazing how frustration can lead to meaningless evening grazing (confession- even if it was just nuts). After reading your post I realized I had started to ignore my water consumption being "too busy at work" and also not drinking any water in the evening. I was getting dehydrated (TMI - color of urine).

Last couple of days I have been back to drinking 80+ ounces of water each day, including drinking 2-3 glasses of Crystal Light Red Rasberry ice tea in the evenings after dinner (don't "need" Snacks, just liquids) and getting back to a better place (clear).

I'm down 2 pounds this week and I made it to 40 pounds lost!!! Last time I was in the 260's was >15 years ago and I was in my 30's (very old man here!)

I will hit the half way mark towards my goal in the next week! Feeling great about this since my surgery was Nov 21! Thanks agin for the reminder, worked for me!! Take care!

Tex

How exciting for you Tex. Bravo on pushing through the stall and bravo on not allowing that to get to you mentally. This is exactly why this forum is such an important tool for us. Sometimes it takes some common sense basic suggestion to get us back on track. I had the same issue and for me it was even more disheartening being that I hadn’t even reached the two week mark at that point. I stalled and the scale just wouldn’t budge for three days and then when I posted my frustration Amy suggested that I wasn’t getting enough water perhaps. I have upped my water intake for the past four days and the weight now is coming off.

I’m hoping to continue posting my success. Thanks to all. We will get through this but we have to remain committed to posting especially when we are stalled. As always my best!!

4 minutes ago, Tex Slim 66 said:

hope4momof4, hey you're not exposed, great idea to share this info, we're all in this together! Awesome start 12 lbs is a big deal!

Male 52 years old, 6'2" tall

HW - 330 lbs

SW - 308 lbs

CW - 268 lbs

GW - 225 lbs - Call me crazy this is a goal to get back to my college weight

--> You inspired me to add a ticker to my signature and share this info with each post. Thanks for that, I think our transparency and honesty about the process of changing our lives is one of the greatest gifts that we can give those people on the forum who haven't decided to do a procedure. Reading posts on this forum is what got me "over the hump" to have an ESG and I am so grateful for the information that enabled me to take that decision. I feel so much better physically and mentally about my body and my life going forward only 3 months after having the ESG!

Keep in touch, Tex

Tex that is awesome. Your numbers look great! My son is 6”2’ and he’s a wrestler so weight and weighing is a constant routine for him. His lowest weight was 218 lbs. and I thought he looked a bit too thin in all honesty. 225 sounds like a perfect weight for that height. It is wonderful that you’re 1/2 way to your goal. And Tex it is not crazy to want to get back to your college weight. Why not? You have the determination and the mind set and I just know you can and will do this!!!

I’m going to try to add the ticket as well. I believe that you’re right. It will keep us honest and that is true accountability!

Anyone have dinner suggestions? I need something that can be easily fixed.

I am struggling to find a new protein. Tired of turkey burgers and rotisserie chicken

On another note: anyone else try these? Enlightened Bean Crisps? 7gm protein/100 cal per 1oz pack.

They are my fave snack!

Great to hear from you once again, my favorite Amy (Just for argument’s sake you are not the only Amy I know lol). Cool snack Amy. Sounds delicious. When I’m off purée foods I’ll try it. As for dinner which I have started to experiment with:

Stir fry chicken strips with Asian medley frozen vegetables. You can use fresh chicken breast or if you are in a rush buy the Perdue or Tyson frozen chicken strips which are already precooked and just need heating up. The frozen veggies have a very light sauce that tastes good not overpowering and only 240 calories for the entire pack. (Made by Bird’s eye) If you are into spicy add crushed red pepper.

If I get anymore recipes or meal ideas further into my postop that I’ve actually tried I’ll let you know. I’m sure Tex and Mel will have a ton for you.

Hey guys. This question is more directed at Tex. I’m embarrassed but I’ve spent a good 30 minutes trying to figure out how to add the ticker to my posts so I can remain accountable but I can’t figure it out. ?‍♀️Please explain to me how to add that to each of my posts the way you have it on yours. Thanks in advance!

Well my beloved friends, thank God I think my stall may be over!![emoji322][emoji323][emoji322][emoji323] I have lost an additional 3 lbs. for a total of 12 lbs. in exactly 17 days since my procedure. All of your advice was extremely useful. Thanks Tex for all of the tips on getting in the protein and I love the muscle milk as well. That has become my go to shake. Amy, it was the water. I was not drinking enough and when I starting to be more vigilant about my water intake that’s when I got over my stall. Thank you for reminding me about the most basic rule! Thanks Mel for your constant and unending words of encouragement. You told me to be patient and stick to the plan and I will break through the stall and I did.
Thanks to everyone!I have come to depend on you all for this journey so stay with us and keep posting about your progress. I still have a long way to go and need you all to stay with me please.
Im going to post my #s, only because I’m finally at a point where I am comfortable enough to say those huge #s are a thing of the past and I hope for good!!!
Female, 43 years old, 5’5” tall
HW—201lbs. ?‍♀️?‍♀️
Sw— 200 lbs.
CW— 188lbs.
GW— 155 lbs.
Can you please post your #s as well so I’m not the only one exposed? [emoji15][emoji51]

I was just looking at your stats and I just want to say that I am super pumped! I am 40 5’4” and around the same start weight...I have my first appointment on Monday. So glad you are doing so well! So glad I found this site. I have learned so much and it’s given me more tools to explain to skeptic family and friends about the surgery. Thanks all! [emoji1373]