How's everyone doing?

Sierra - are you having a protein drink in the morning? I would never get in my 50-60 grams a day without it. I tried cereal this morning, but then an hour later I really needed the protein drink just for the energy. It would really help your stamina. I find the days I get between 30-45 grams, I just want to sleep. Once I went to bed at 7:30 pm, right after dinner - (well, I didn't even do dinner I was so tired). I would say try a protein drink in the morning (if you aren't) and then maybe a protein bar every once in a while. You should get your proteins from food if possible, but importantly you should get the proteins. Good luck. Oh, I also found when I went on smushies and was eating some food, my protein intake went down, my energy went down and I only lost 2 pounds for 3 weeks. So that could be part of it too! Good luck and congrats on your 30 lb loss!

Hi Karen, Doing well here. Never get enough water but its been so cold here I really don't want any so I carry a little bottle around and try to sip sip sip. The weight loss (35lbs) is noticeable now and I had to tell my boss what I did because he was genuinely concerned I was seriously ill! Now he and another co-worker are considering the surgery. Apparently I am "inspirational" lol. I was very worried about reactions to my surgery but so far so good (although my mother tuts a lot and shakes her head and tells me to eat something). I've noticed changes in my skin which I am trying not to let bother me but it's hard. I actually jogged on the treadmill at the gym the other day Ok.. so I only lasted for three minutes but I was so excited I wanted to yell to everyone.. Hey LOOK I'm JOGGING!! Anyone would have thought I'd just conquered Mt Everest! There have been lots of little victories and lots of little trials but all up, I wish I had done this ten years ago.

Sharyn - yeah, way to go! Jogging! I'm impressed! I thought about it today but decided I'd wait until I was about 200 lbs so less damage on my already damaged feet! I did make it twice around the rentention pond instead of just once!! We had a cool wave I think. It was not nearly as hot as usual. Good luck - I'm with you on the ten years. I thought about it that long ago but didn't have the guts!

"didn't have the guts" (sorry.. sometimes my sense of humour is on the warped side). Congrats for twice around the pond! Isn't it amazing how good achieving something makes you feel

Good to see everyone doing well! My favorite protein bar is Zone Strawberry Yogurt. It has 15g protein and it's yummy! I seem to have stalled at 255, 244 and it usually takes about a week and I'm down like 4 or 5 overnight. I did my weigh in Friday and I was 242 which was great considering I stayed at 244 for a week. Woke up this morning and I'm 237! That's a total of 44 lbs gone forever!! I went shopping yesterday for the first time since my surgery to get an outfit to wear to my boyfriend's sister's bday get together. At my highest, I was definately in a 22/24 all the way around and sometimes in a 24 pant. So I'm in CATO yesterday, which I normally hate b/c their clothes always seemed to "fit funny" (couldn't have been b/c I was fat). So I tried on a size 20W top. Too big. Went down to an 18W. Too big. I actually got into a 16W and get this, it wasn't even stretchy!! LOL! I ended up w/ a size 18 skirt and 16W top. Proud moment!!

Way to go, Holly! I too went shopping yesterday but didn't get that small (although I'm at your same weight ) Was able to get XL everything instead of 2X or 3X so I was happy.

Hi there - I rarely come to this forum, but decided to check it out today to get an idea of how others who had surgery around the same time as me are doing. It looks like I'm on track with everyone else, which is good, because I was starting to wonder if I was going to continue to lose or not. Like most everyone else I have been having problems getting my protein in. I thought it would be easy and before my surgery I would read about people saying they hated shakes, they couldn't get enough protein, etc., etc., and always wondered how that could be. Well, now I know how it is and it definitely isn't easy! Protein is a lot more difficult than I ever thought it would be. Some days I do great, and others I barely get half of what I should have. I'm still supposed to be on purees (8 weeks on puree diet), but basically I eat what I can and just chew really really well. Mostly I'm eating soft foods so that I don't have to worry about something getting stuck. I've had a couple of bad experiences with food - but nothing major and the pain passes pretty quickly. I find that I just make note of what I was eating and will wait til I'm further out to try eating it again. It's worked for me so far. I haven't had any other real issues to speak of, but its only been 6 weeks. I try to walk every day or every other day, but I do notice that I feel like doing more than I used to. I don't like to just sit around and watch tv now...I want to be doing something. That's a great side effect of surgery. lol. I have noticed that some of my clothes are fitting better - actually I have a couple pair of pants that are too big for me now. Pretty cool!! Luckily I have enough clothes in different sizes to get me thru the first 60-80 lbs., I'm sure. I hope we see more updates from the Junebugs, it's really nice to see how others are doing. Good luck to everyone! MC

Thanks for responding, MC. I'm with you on the clothes - I cleaned through my closet this weekend and have plenty for now and for a little while longer. LOL!

I'm doing well. I'm going back to work day after tomorow. I'm getting in at least 60 g of protein just about every day. I do eat some Power Crunch bars when I want something quick. I haven't been needing shakes any more. I was using them for several weeks and got to the point of actually buying a couple of big containers, but now I don't use it much. It is hard to get as much water as I'd like. My goal is 64 oz a day. I usually get at least 48 plus other drinks like coffee or tea.

I was just hearing about those Power Crunch bars tonight at support group. I gotta try those. Keep up the good work on the protein and water. I can usually get enough of one or the other, but never both.