BrownEyedGirl

OHMIGOSH!!! You look awesome!!! Hooray for you!!! Keep it up, you're an inspiration!

I'm sure I know the answer but I want to be sure. When we register so much personal information, is that all private? I don't want someone googling my name and finding I'm attending these webinars. I haven't told everyone about this yet. Thank you, Jane Doe

I hope you post soon too!! I can't wait to see them!

I decided to weigh myself once a week, on Weigh In Wednesdays. I can't tell you how freeing that is. I was always afraid to weigh myself once a week because in a week I could have spiraled out of control. I thought by weighing myself every day I could stop the damage from the day before. Right now I can safely weigh myself next week because I'm not over eating!! If I should gain weight it's because of some freaky biological thing and not because of forgotton (DENIAL) trips to the pantry or MickeyD's. I know once I start eating again I have to be careful. But for now I'll enjoy the peace this is brining me.

Congrats sawdawg!! All your work is paying off!

The doctors were awesome, professional, approachable and friendly (and gorgeous omg!!). I was able to get my questions easily answered. I don't know if the Dr. Soh (So) spent the night but he was there late at night and early in the morning. The nurse installed my IV on the inside of my left hand below my thumb and she did it so well that it was nearly painless. It was the best place for an IV and I'll ask for that should i ever need another. I've ALWAYS had problems with IVs. Nurses have blown vein after vein until they finally call in the anesthesiologist. I don't recommend trying to leave early. I was able to sleep comfortably, had English tv, and quick access to medical care if I needed it. The latter being most important. The nurses checked on me, gave me meds. fed me juice broth and popsicles, and were there if I needed them. They weren't hovering over me but were there if I needed them. NOTHING was sub-par and just about everything was better than what I've experienced here in the US. And the place is spotless. Was there anything in particular you were concerned about?

Eeew! I know what that is! I got rid of a guy for that reason once. Yah, Larry, I'm talking about you! Linnipoo... grats on the weight loss. You're going to have to change your name to Skinnipoo soon!

Evan or Tyler Reed for a boy... Olivia Claire or Arabella for a girl

So far so good. I've been blessed that I haven't really suffered from stomach hunger. In fact, one of the first things I said to my husband after surgery was, "I feel full". I feel as if I've just eaten a decent meal. I imagine as the swelling goes down that feeling will lessen because I have no desire to eat right now. I'm thinking of food and want to eat out of boredom but when the rubber meets the road, I wouldn't be able to swallow a bite. I bought the Isopure clear drinks but wasn't able to finish one after 2 days so I decided to freeze them and make granita and popsicles out of them and that's made them go down much easier. Pain.. hmm. It really hasn't been that bad. My stomach is sore and I protect it but I've forgotten to take the pain meds and still have 2 of the 4 left of what they gave me. I did get that gas pain in the shoulder about 15 minutes ago and will take my dog for a walk as soon as I finish this. Like I said before I caught a cold and the coughing and sneezing did hurt but liquid NyQuil and DayQuil have helped with that. I also shamefully blogged about my intestinal issues yesterday but.. meh.. I'm hiding behind my anonymity for now. What am I eating? Broth, popsicles, Isopure, Gatorade, and a juice that I'll write about later (because I forgot the name). I have chicken, mushroom, vegetable, and beef broth. Last night I added fish sauce and soy sauce to my broth in order to trick myself into thinking I was eating Chinese food. Making my liquids look pretty helps too. I put my "meal" on a tray with matching cups and bowls. On the down side. I'm eating alone. I'm not eating with my husband or son at all. We always eat as a family and I prepare all the meals but for now the responsibility of them eating is soley on my husband and he's handling that very well. Kudos, hubby. I may join them later but I'm not sure I want to sit down to Kefir and a a cup of broth while they are tucking into a grilled ribeye. This is the verse I've been meditating on today: "...let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." Hebrews 12:1 Gotta go.. I have a race to won and Ima win!

Yah, it's been pure joy. NOT! But today is much better.

I'm 201 today. Down 4lbs even since surgery on Friday. Granted, I'm on clear liquids but I'll take a loss any way I can get it. I think I'll just weigh myself once a week though my husband wants me to weigh in every day. What do you guys think? I realized I weigh myself every day because I never stick to a diet for more than that and had to see how much damage I did the day before or if I could reward* myself (cheat) because I lost some wieght. I'm afraid if I weigh myself only once a week I'lll find I gained weight, like I have so many times in the past. Now I just need to figure out how to update my ticker. I guess I have to make a new one. * I have to ask myself, "Is heart disease and diabetes a reward?!"

YES, it was a joke! What a blow to my ego. Here I was thinking I was so clever. I'd have popped a stitch from laughing so hard as I wrote that That's if I had any stitches that is. Dr. Ortiz uses glue.

Stop reading if your delicate sensiblilities are easily offended. 4 days post op: I'll state it simply.. DIARRHEA. And... don't trust your farts during the liquid phase. I'll leave it up to you to figure out what I mean. Bye for now.

Hemp?!! Didn't you get the munchies afterwards?!

I "checked" that option as it was already unchecked and it worked!! Thanks! Some of the emoticons are still red x's but that's ok. At least I don't have to post then edit after. Thanks! *Wishes she had married a contractor/fitness trainer/low cal chef/computer geek billionaire.*

I did the 2 shakes/1 meal a day also. I lost exactly 10 lbs and that was right up to the wire. I thought I'd be 8 or 9 lbs down on surgery day but I made it. As far as having access to food, you will after your band too. Do what I did, toss the bad stuff out. I told my family none of us needed them. Yes, it was wasteful. But so is tossing all that food down the gullet of a woman who is already over 200 lbs. And I only did it once. I then went out and purchased healthier foods. I'm not talking a box of Weight Watchers Twinkies that I could still scarf down. I bought fruit, veggies, and yogurt. The one concession I made for my son's lunch was Pop Chips. I tried making my own low cal chips. FAIL! And those I put in individual sandwich bags set aside for my sons lunch. Today I packed in his lunch, grilled chicken, a small bag of pop chips, carrot coins (NO Ranch Dressing), apple, Greek blueberry yogurt, and a hard boiled egg. He has a mid morning snack and another after school because he does a Homework club. I went through the "Last Meal" phase too and put on some weight. Then I remembered why they wanted us to lose the weight, so our liver wouldn't be fatty and cause complications. I've had many surgeries and know how rough it is and came to the conclusion that I wanted to be as healthy as possible for my surgery. Every time I turned away from bad food I envisioned my liver getting healthier. Everytime I ate a good meal I envisioned the fat coming off my liver. I'd also ask myself what was what I was eating worth a complication in surgery? I scared myself but it worked. I thought i read somehwhere that there is a video on YouTube of a surgery and when you see the liver you see the importance of losing the weight. That was going to be my last resort and I didn't need it. Thank God!! My surgery went quite well, by the way. I've felt far worse after a dental procedure. I have a cold now though and I'm a bit sore with all the coughing and sneezing but no pain meds required. Surgery was Friday 2/19. Commit to a healthier you. You deserve it. Think of all the things you'll be able to do that you can't do now.

Based on my recent research I have proven that Pretty Face Syndrome does exist. Everyone I met that also had surgery suffered from it. Even Steve!!!

Praying for you today.

I'm feeling pretty good except I caught a cold. Coughing and sneezing are not fun at all right now. I haven't been hungry at all. I just want to eat because I want to. So, I'm focusing on my stomach instead of my head. I am tired of sweet stuff and concentrating more on broth. If we could still have jello I think I'd make some beef flavored jello. My husband and I met some great people in TJ. Everyone having surgery and their spouses or family members were very friendly. I could totally see myself hanging out with everyone and overeating! Now we just have to talk and nibble! lol. I think we'd get to know each other even better. One of the girl's husband spoke fluent Spanish and what a blessing that was! Prior to the surgery I showed one of the gorgeous surgeons the scars I already have on my stomach and asked him if he could hide as many scars as possible in my existing ones. He did a great job and I only have 2 that are "new". I can't see enough about OCC. Everyone was friendly and professional. The center is immaculate and I would have absolutely no reservation about recommending them to anyone. The surgery was not as bad as I expected. I can't believe I haven't even been taking my pain meds. I'm just sore. My periods were way worse than this. Last night I weighed myself and found I had gained 2lbs!! Though, when I weighed myself this morning I had lost those 2 plus another 1.5 or so. Ok, I'm going to go on a little walk on my treadmill. Until next time, be blessed.

Kristi, I look forward to us doing lunch sometime. Sounds like fun! I'm doing pretty good except I seem to have caught a cold. Trust me, sneezing isn't fun and coughing less so. Ugh. Other than that I'm good. I'm not really hungry at all. I just want to eat cuz I wanna eat. I need to tame that monster. It's just a bad habit, eating just because.

Oh! I had read in a post about getting a massage but I couldn't get one. We stayed at the Marriott and they didn't know of anyone who came to the room. Bummer!

You'll be able to call Canada and the US from your room while you are staying at OCC. That was a nice perk.

Thank you so much. What a nice thing to see this morning. I'm feeling great! Right now I'm looking for the post where someone was asking about phone service here. I had no idea they had free calls to the US and Canada from OCC on top of Internet and cable (both in English)! I had a hiatal (sp) hernia and Dr. Ortiz fixed it while he was in there. I'm really doing well and am focused on taking care of my band and myself from now on. Like Dr. Ortiz suggests, I don't want to test my band on how much I can eat but on how little I can eat and feel satisifed. Thanks for your encouragement. I look forward to following in your footsteps down the path of weight loss.