CALLING ALL MARCH 8TH, 9TH, 10TH - ERS

Just curious. Would like to hear from folks who had surgery on the same date as me (3/8) or right around there. If you don't mind, could you share some of your experiences so far, such as, how much you've lost thus far, what you're doing currently for eating and exercising, how you're doing with the protein and water intake, how life is changing for you, etc. Thanks. I'll go first! To my knowledge, I have lost 42 lbs. since surgery. I am having a difficult time exercising, just reverting back to old, lazy habits. I am not really monitoring my intake of protein but am only eating mostly protein, so should be okay. Try to get the requisite daily water in but it's a struggle. Clothes are looser, I have more energy, but at times still feel incredibly tired and low energy. Have recently starting interviewing for jobs after being out of the job market for more than 3 years. I don't feel so much like a stuffed sausage during the interview process. Have explained to prospective employers (2 so far) that I had surgery and that this is a very exciting time for me. They were seemingly very positive and thankful that I let them know. Please send me your info. Thanks so much! Maureen 352/290/150

Hi Maureen, Welcome back...hope you had a nice visit Im not too far away from your surgery date 3/3/04. I have lost 48 pounds so far. (20 the 1st week) The rest came off much slower. I was on a plateau for 18 days (see my recent post) just broke that by seriously increasing my protein. 80 a day sometimes a bit more. I drink a protein drink a day that is 40 grams of protein and the rest is easier to get in with the yogurt and the milk and the cheese and chicken. I havent been exercising. Just light yard work and such lately. Playing with my son and stuff like that. Nothing as far as the gym yet. I am definitely seeing the difference in lots of personal ways. Such as bathroom ways and being able to fit in my clothes that I had grown out of with the excess weight I had put on. My energy levels really arent any different. I have noticed that my feet dont hurt as much and walking to my car after work is ALOT easier. Once I get to exercising that will improve too. I feel better about myself in that I am not so much concerned with what other people think about me in public because I KNOW I am doing something about it and dont hold those guilty feelings anymore. All in all its going awesome. (now that my plateau has broken) that can be quiet discouraging. But now I know what I need to do...No chips ... BIG protein! Best Wishes! Elizabeth M -48lbs

Maureen - You said you lost just over 40 lbs, but your siggy shows 62 lbs. Was this from losing before surgery? I am curious because it seems to me that those who lose weight before surgery seem to slow down on their loss after surgery only because they've already gotten the ball rolling. It seems to make sense that this would be the case. Anyway, to answer your questions, I have lost 37 lbs as of yesterday. I am PMSing BIG TIME and, as stated in a previous post, moody as hell. I preface this in case I start ranting uncontrollably and am unable to wrest myself away from hitting the send button! I am not exercising. Yes, I know this would help, but I'm not up to it. I was not supposed to for the first month due to being done open. Then after that my energy started flagging big time and I just wanted to lay around. Add to that my ADD which causes me to hyperfocus on stupid little things (like finding a needle in the haystack online or elsewhere) and you have a pretty sedentary butt. I am now back to work and happy to have a diversion. I was getting pretty bored at home. As for eating, I am moody as hell over my larger pouch size, but trying to cope. I realize that anything is better than what I had before, so I just need to learn to make it work better for me. My protein intake I notice drops usually when I'm not tracking in fitday. I have noticed myself get lazy on too many occasions where I eat something I probably shouldn't. And example would be yesterday when DH made a chicken pasta salad and I had a serving for breakfast. Easy and not the best choice. As for water, I was not told to push the water, and I'm thankful for that because I'm not a water drinker. I will drink it when I feel thirsty, but generally I like something flavored. Regardless, I buck pop culture in that I absolutely do not believe we need that much water to be healthy. In fact, a recent medical study by a nephrologist (I think....it was a kidney specialist) concluded that there was no basis for the "drink 8 glasses of water a day" theory, and that it was just basically someone's bright idea that got pushed into magazines and ultimately accepted as the gospel truth. He contends (and I strongly concur) that our bodies are designed to let us know when we need to drink and that our thirst mechanism isn't faulty. I remember a time in the not too distant past where people went places without lugging a bottle of water around. I remember a time where people only drank when they were thirsty and that excessive thirst indicated a possible problem with diabetes. This is not to say that I don't believe it's important for those with tiny pouches to sip water all day long. They have a different physiology that requires them to be more conscientious about it. But for people who have not been altered, for people who have no other medical condition that requires flushing of the kidneys, etc, goofy gobs of water just isn't necessary. I must leave it though that this is my opinion. I know many will disagree with me on this. To each his own. I know drinking boatloads of water during my dieting days did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for me except make me have to pee every 20 minutes. My skin didn't get better, my weight loss didn't improve and I didn't win the lottery. But I do have to concede that I could have peed in the toilet and not flushed it and no one would have been the wiser. My urine wasn't just light - it was pretty much colorless. Anyway - what did I tell you? I knew I was going to rant. I'm giving my disclaimer again - I'm PMSing in the worst way. Take what I say with a grain of salt and don't let me bring you all down. I'm not used to this crap and now I have to deal with it every month. Oh joy. As for my clothing, I have retired a few items already and have dug a few out of storage that I can wear now. I also have some clothing that I was wearing before that was too tight, so now it at least fits! Enough rambling. Feels good to rant and share sometimes!!! Dina

Dina, I saw your earlier post and replied to it -- please take a peek at what I "said" -- Yep, that was an error on my part and thanks for catching it. I lost 20 lbs. just prior to surgery, but my total weight loss from the date of surgery is 42 lbs. Sounds as if we two are going through similar difficulties, especially with the sedentary sensibility. I just can't get motivated to move my butt and use my "computer work" as a real excuse. Keep your chin up, girlfriend. Maureen

Hi Maureen, My surgery was 03/10/04, open RNY. I am currently down about 55 pounds. So far so good as far as how I'm feeling. I haven't had any problems with eating. I don't really measure my water intake, my surgeon just told me to have something at all times to sip on. I have been following that advice and seems to work well for me. I'm not really measuring my protein either, but I am very good about eating my protein first though. I probably should start keeping a journal of my daily food intake. I don't graze on food. I typically eat about 3 small meals daily, and maybe a snack. My only struggle really has been putting too much food on my plate. I usually take a few bites and have to pu**** away. I have to push myself to exercise. So far, I've just been walking. I try to walk every day. I haven't gone for my walk in two days though because it has been so hot. I think I need to stop making excuses and just do it. I will say that having an exercise buddy helps alot. I've noticed that I do feel so much better after I get moving. I will admit that I still need a push though. I'm hoping that will get better after more weight comes off. Keep up the good work. Cheryl

Hello all, I am a March 10 pouch person, and I have lost 40 lbs. I think it might be more, but I am on my period, so enough said about that! I have been walking since I got out of the hospital, and was encouraged to do so even though I had open RNY. I now walk 2.5 miles a day in 31 minutes, pushing my daughter in her stroller. If the weather is bad, I have these GREAT DVDs called Walking Off the Pounds. It starts at a mile, and there are a 2 and 3 miles ones too. The first one is 18 minutes long! Who can't do 18 minutes?!?!? I HIGHLY suggest these since you can do them at home and modify them for your level. My doc even told me to use soup cans in place of any weights at first, and boy, does it really make a difference! I can deffinatley see where I have new muscles and it really helps with some of the toneing. I hate exercise, but I really like these tapes/DVDs. I also use Isopure protein daily, and it doesn't taste bad. It has 50 grams of protein so I can pretty much eat what I want (within reason) and I get all the protein I need. I have no problem with the water...Texas is HOT! I eat 6 meals/snacks a day, and I am feeling good. I have noticed about once every 6 weeks or so, I have a 2-3 day period where I am just exhausted. I figure that my body is going through so much right now that it is just my body trying to keep up with all the changes. Good luck with your interviews! Hope all this info helps! Cathy 271/231/160

You know I watched something on that too Dina.... about the water! Just like you said that it was made up by someone and stuck in the magazine and just became the norm. Maybe it was the same tv show! Yeah I dont think anything is wrong with our thirst mechanism either. I use to guzzle that stupid water on weigh****chers and just like you it never did anything but make me pee every 2 seconds and yeah bowl color pee. I know (TMI). Even my nutritionist stated that getting in that 64 oz a day isnt really necessary. She was like just listen to your thirst and also if your pee gets really dark then you need some water. She said just monitor what your body tells you. Which I was shocked because I was so use to nutritionists yelling get that 64oz of water in!!! bah. Elizabeth M

I HAD MY WLS WAS THE 8TH,I STARTED WEIGHTING 295, I'M NOW 265 ,BUT I'M NOT SO GLAD . I WISH I HAD LOOSE MORE . I FEEL DEPRESS I SEE THE POSTINGS AND READ THEM. I FEEL LIKE NOT LOOSING TOO MUCH. BUT I'M STARTING TO EAT BETTER NOW. DRINKING MORE WATER & TAKING MY PROTEIN 3 TIMES A DAY. MIXING 1 FRESH STRAWBWERRY , 5 OZ. OF CRYSTAL LIGHT , ICE & THE PROTEIN IN THE BLENDER . I HOPE YOU THE BEST ,TAKE CARE. YVETTE 295/265/160

My surgery was a bit after yours, March 16 and I am moving very very slowly. As of today I am down 25 pounds since surgery and 35 since Jan 5. I go to Curves 4 times a week, drink at least 64 ounces of water and get in at least 50 or more grams of protein a day. I had my body in starvation mode because I was not eating enough and I didn't lose for 5 weeks. The nutritionist has me drinking 2 shakes a day plus eating. The shakes contain 20 grams of protein each, so with just the shakes I have 40 grams of protein and then what ever I eat is just added to that........

Hi Maureen, OK, you'll be sorry you asked this, but here it goes. Surgery was March 9th and I'm down 50 pounds from my highest weight. That's according to my scale. My surgeon's scale says less and my pcp's scale says more so I split the difference and take mine. I drink water like a fish, but I have to because of my kidneys. I have Medullary Sponge Kidney and end up with stones if I don't keep pushing fluids and flushing the kidneys. My nephrologist is a Nazi about this. Getting my protein in is a chore. I'm like a religious zealot when it comes to using fitday.com. Last weekend I only got in 25 to 30 grams of protein each day and knew I would pay for it. Sure enough the weight stopped dropping. I do notice a pattern between my protein consumption and weight loss. Every stall that I've had so far has been precipitated by low protein intake. So as for what I've noticed.... I started in size 26 jeans (OK they were 24's but REALLY should have been 26's). I'm sitting here in a pair of 20's and typing. I tried on this particular pair of jeans two weeks ago and while I could button them, I couldn't breathe. My tummy hanging over the top was not one of the most attractive sites I've ever witnessed. Today there is no overhang and I can breathe. I was in Sam's a couple of weeks ago and realized that my shoe was untied. Tying my shoe in public pre-surgery would have required a logistical summit to plan. I had to plant myself next to a shelf or pole that I could use to haul my butt back up after tying the shoe. I would have been out of breath from not being able to breathe while I was bent over. My heart would have been racing. This time I looked at my shoe, thought "what the hell" and bent over. I mean straight over without my knees bent and was able to reach the floor. I tied the shoe, needed nothing to haul my butt up and wasn't out of breath. That was a milestone for me. I stood up and was so darned proud of myself. Haven't been that proud of tying my shoes in 40 years. I can work on cleaning the house all day. I'm a little demented because I like scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom floors on my hands and knees. I can do that again. My own sister walked right past me in the grocery store the other day. She didn't recognize me for a minute. Every single day I count my blessings and thank God for a gifted surgeon and the good sense to realize that I wasn't going to lose this weight on my own. I think we all rock. Every one of us is a hero for having the courage to take back control of our lives and health. Connie (who is stepping down off her soap box now)