One Year Check-up

Suz- I actually realized what I had done as soon as I did it, but it was too late to fix it! Belle

thanks Belle! OMG stretch to double the size? I would die. Will it stretch if we stick to under 1 cup ? Yes, I heard about taking the iron separate from our other vitamins and drinking OJ with it. Shoot, I forgot to take mine. I'll have to do that tonight!! Holy Cow, I can't get over the amount of vials they use for drawing your blood. I would die! They take about 4 vials for me, they said they can run multiple tests from one vial? Good to know about the exercise!!

Janie- No it won't stretch if you stay under a cup, so that we her big point. She suggested once a week, measure everything you eat just to touch base with reality. She did warn about making snacks too large also, as that eating 8 oz 4-6 times a day will also stretch the pouch. So 8 oz at meals, and smaller, protein or fruit snacks between. And of course, nothing 2 hours before bedtime. Also, she had a neat idea called "Sunday pants". She said that you should buy a pair of pants that fit great and wear them for a few hours every week... like put them on after church on Sundays. And if they start to get tight, it will be a reality check. The hitch is, though, even if they are tight, you still have to wear them for 3-4 hours.

When does it go back to normal?? I think I would say never!!! We'll always need blood work and appt's. But just think, we look so normal now, we know what to do and what not to do. We were given a 2nd chance. I'm afraid if everything did go back to normal, nothing about my eating habits would change and I would go back to the old me. The one who ate for comfort, who ate for anything, happy, sad, whatever!!! I wish carbs didn't sit well with me. They do make me tired & sluggish and I fill up on them way to quick, but they don't make me sick. Neither do sweets. I don't think I've ever dumped. Yes, get a copy of your records for sure. You could even sign a release and get copies of your past records and compare. I have all of mine. Not that I know what 1/2 of those tests mean, I know I'm in normal range. : )

Thanks for posting this Janie- I have been eating WAY over a cup at one time- not 3x's a day- but maybe every other- so that was a reality check. It was also good to be reminded of the 6 meals- I eat 6 meals easy- and if I don't - that's when I cheat. It's hard sometimes cuz I'm not sure if I'm grazing or having 6 meals. My nut told me about the caffeine- so that's why I drink the imitation crystal lite lemonade- but I shudder to think how much artificial sweetener I consume daily. I've started keeping propel fitness water in the car- it stays cold cuz I live in Colorado and I really enjoy it- my fav is black cherry. There's only 30 cal in 28 oz... Atleast it's something to drink from 7-11 that's not straigh****er or carbonated. Thanks- Holly

Holly - you must be doing something right because you're not gaining. There are times where I can eat over a cup too, but I am going to make a consious effort to eyeball things and if I think it could be over a cup I'll measure it. Last night dh and I went out to eat and ate at an Italian Restaurant. I ate about 1/2 my salad, couple bites of bread, all of the meat off of my pasta (chicken and shrimp) and then a few of the noodles. I bet if I measured all of that it would be over a cup. I'm not going to get into bad habits though. I feel bad because I ate pasta and the sauce I'm sure was BAD, but once in awhile isn't bad I don't think. I don't want to "diet" forever, but change my eating habits. Overall I have (I think, I hope) but it's nice sometimes to cheat. See, the problem with me before surgery is I would cheat the whole time. Dave and I were talking and before WLS I would have eaten all of my salad, all of the loaf of bread, all of my meal and a bite or 3 (lol) of his. I can not believe how much I used to eat. Oh, this is a funny story. The waitress was boxing up my leftovers and asked if we saved room for dessert and we both said we were stuffed. She said to me "well I thought you were saving room for dessert, that's why you didn't eat much!" Can you believe that? I was not at all offended. It felt good actually, me, taking home 3/4 of my food?? It felt good!!

If I stopped exercising I'm pretty sure I would gain- I think that's why it stays off. I don't count salad in my amounts because it feels like mostly water so I can eat a ton of it and at this point and time- I think it's good to eat- but I still use the full fat dressing and lots of it. So if I start gaining that's going to be something to look at... It's funny- I had a few bites of mastacholi (sp?) the other nite and pasta doesn't sit real well with me- it seems to take up a lot of space and takes awhile to move through. I was never a big pasta eater so that's okay. Now the bread- OMG- I am a bread girl- I mean WAS a bread girl. That's still very hard for me- why else would I go italian other than for the bread- YUMMY!!! It's impressive that you only had a couple of bites of bread- I'm still struggling with all or nothing with bread especially if it's crusty like the stuff from Macaroni Grill- now that's something I could make myself sick on. We don't eat there very much anymore!!! I'm trying to keep an eye on the portion sizes- the only problem is then I wait awhile and eat again- but like you said- I'm not gaining- so it must be okay...shouldn't it? C U at weighin 2morrow... Holly/Brit

Woo Hoo! Congrats on your checkup and being told to "stop that" on your weight loss. You look great! I went with my surgeon because of much research. I love him and his staff but he is in a town about an hour and a half away. So he has clinic hours near me about 3 times a month. I had to push my checkup back once into Feb. and now I have a message that he will be gone and they want me to move it again. Grrr. I guess I will need to make the trek to them this time. An hour and a half....I make it sound like I am driving to another state! LOL Hugs, Katy

Ok, so I missed your big day, as I was in some wonderland of getting a new job. Wow, amazing what a year this has been. Half our weights, new outlooks on life, alot less stresses and definitely less medical issues. I hope you had a great day and partied hard without me. Not sure what you are taking on a daily basis, but I am taking one prenatal vitamin (Stuart's, but Walgreen's generic is the same exact pill - I wont make that mistake again of paying for brand). The prenatal has the iron in it already. My doctor told me that I had the best 1 year follow up labs he had ever seen. He was amazed that I got such great results and wanted to know exactly what all I take daily: 1 prenatal vitamin at bedtime 2 citracel petites w/Vitamin D (at bedtime) because they are citrate, they are okay to take with iron. Calcium gummy vites (typically take 4 at bedtime) Sublignual 2500 mg B-12 (as needed, but for sure one a week, sometimes more) Not sure if this helps or not. Hugs, Lindy

I used to take one iron pill a week and my iron was a bit on the low side so my doc has me taken 2 a week. I take the B12 on a daily basis, daily vitamin and then calcium. Thanks Lindy!