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The following is a copy/paste of a bit by Leilani.  She used to be a member here but is not any longer.  I came across this on another website...

"There's noooooooooooooo crying in baseball.....!!!!!!"

 

That's the sentiment (scenario) that comes to mind sometimes when I hear some of the comments from people who've already had the surgery. In case you haven't made the connection, that's a line Tom Hanks made famous in the movie "A League of Their Own." Resorting to tears or just giving up every time the going gets tough.   Or your sick of taking vitamins, getting in protein is hard, water doesn't taste good, etc.   That kinda' thinking is NOT going to make you successful or keep you healthy. ENOUGH already! It's time to LOVE yourself enough to get "TOUGH" with your aftercare. Your long term health is worth it!!

Success comes with a backbone, NOT a wishbone!

 

First and foremost, you have to keep it POSITIVE.   As with everything in life, if you think you can't - you WON'T!  Simple enough?

 

I have to wonder when "we" (as adults) finally take ownership for our actions, our life and our health?  We have been given a gift, a second chance to actually LIVE life again instead of merely existing on the sidelines.  It's up to each of us to do that as healthy and productively as possible.  

 

We're ALL statistics waiting to happen and the insurance companies are chomping at the bit.   The bean counters are eager to drop Weight Loss Surgery ("WLS") from the policies; some already have.   Don't you know that any negative feedback thrown into the mix only strengthens their cause?   I may not be able to control every thing that happens to my body after WLS, but most things I can.    I CHOOSE to take control and I will be a positive statistic when the numbers get counted. 

 

We live in a spoiled society, expecting everything in life to come with a buncha really cool choices. Well, guess what? When it comes to your health, you're not always going to get a choice. You either DO IT and stay healthy, or you DON'T and your body pays the price.  

 

The way I saw it, I had a 90 day healing and adjusting period after surgery.   My 'super morbidly obese' body had more then enough stores to survive the learning curve.   In turn, it gave me plenty of time to heal, adjust and learn.  For those of you OVER 90 day's Post-Op, the probation period is over - its time to get serious and LIVE what you've learned.

 

~*~  You say you can't get in enough liquids through out the day, don't like the taste of water, or just keep forgetting?  --  TOUGH!   It's not an option anymore. Find a way to do it, get suggestions and tips from others in support groups, message boards, etc.   Read, learn and JUST DO IT!!   Why do you think there is a choice here?

 

~*~ You say you don't like the big horse pill type vitamins, or the tart chalky chewables? ...it's, just too many to bother with?  Or maybe you just can't remember to take them?  --  TOUGH! You gave up the option NOT to take vitamins when you agreed to have your insides rerouted.   FIND a way to get them in; crushed, minced, chopped, liquified, in a shake, etc.   No exceptions, your health depends on it.

 

~*~ Protein is a must.  So you can't get it all in via foods and you don't like the way the shakes taste?  --  TOUGH!   Either get it through your meals (and there are a gazillion food choices out there) or supplement it with protein shakes and bars.  

 

Trust me, I don't drink my protein shake every morning because I think it tastes like a chocolate blizzard from Dairy Queen.  I’ve tried many varieties over the last 2 years.   I'd even venture to say 25 of the top sellers/flavors have crossed my lips.  For the record?   I've yet to find one that is as 'delicious' as boasted by the distributor.  So what.    I still drink one every morning.   My HEALTH dictates that I need "X" grams of protein per day.   If I'm not getting enough from my meals then I supplement a shake.   'Nuff said.

 

This surgery is a gift, I owe it to me and everyone else fighting the approval process, to do it right!     I will continue to choke down my vitamins, my water and my protein every single day, for the REST OF MY LIFE.   Some days will be easier then others, regardless, no days will be missed.

 

It's all about discipline. Create a routine, set a timer, develop a pattern, tie a string around your finger, glue a note to your forehead, whatever it takes.

 

You're an adult - take responsibility!   If this surgery doesn't slap a back bone into you, not much will.

 

* Leilani * [Original draft written: June 2004 --  Revised: April 2006] 

These are compiled from a post by a friend named Angie/Nixie and the responses she received!

1.  Take tiny bites and chew well to avoid getting sick.
2.  Don't gulp drinks!  You will get those liquids in soon enough!
3.  Get plenty of fluids in to avoid dehydration and blood pressure drops.
4.  Clothing with button and zip closures make you feel thinner than elastic waists!
5.  Take your vitamins and get your protein in each and every day in order to have more energy to LIVE!
6.  People treat you differently after WLS, but you know you are still the same person you ever were.
8.  Losing weight brings higher self-esteem, more confidence and more self-respect.
9.  Dropping weight usually means you have more energy to do things.
10.  The people who truly know and love you will love you no matter what size you are!
11.  You can discover something new or improved in your self each and every day if you really look.
12.  You need to eat healthier foods and much smaller portions than before surgery.
13.  You need to exercise each and every day!
14.  Others watch your progress and follow the example you set.  Allow this to make you more accountable for your actions.
15.  You have willpower and determination that you never knew you had and others see this!
16.  Just because the outside changes, the inside is still the same.  If you work on changes from within, then the outside can be even more beautiful.
17.  You are an AWESOME person!  Don't let others impede on that.
18.  If life gives you lemons, then make lemonade OR go get the help you need.  Don't sit and complain!
19.  You have always been a strong and interesting person, but now that you're closer to a "normal" weight, more people choose to get to know you and find out who you really are.
20.  It is all relative. 
21.  Thin people have no idea what it is like to live as an obese person.  The world still sees fat people as something ugly.
22.  No matter how much weight you lose, some folks will never tell you anything looks good on you...  Husbands are the worst!
23.  Nothing tastes better than THIN feels. 
24.  It is all about getting healthy again.  BUT, the first time you get your butt into a pair of jeans that are 5 or 6 sizes smaller than where you started, for about 10 seconds, it is ALL ABOUT YOU!

I live in central West Virginia and we've had a VERY dry summer.  Consequently, it seems as if Fall is here early this year.  Where normally we see the leaves changing in early to mid-October, they're already changing like crazy and dropping each time the wind blows.  The calendar says that the first day of Fall isn't till Sept 27th, but you can't tell it around here!  The colors are awesome and the weather is cooling down.  They're calling for a frosty night later this next week!  I'll try to take some pics soon to share the beautiful scenery with you all!

These turned out pretty good.  We made them for breakfast one morning this past week.  I am posting the recipe AS I PREPARED it, not as I originally found it and there are enough changes to it that I feel safe in calling it my own now!  LOL

Pumpkin/Blueberry/Pecan Muffins with Protein
1/2 cup Splenda brown sugar blend
3 tbsp rice bran oil (or olive or canola, whatever oil you normally use)
1 can pumpkin (not pie mix!  just pumpkin--15 ozs)
1/4 cup milk (original recipe called for skim but I used 2%)
1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup almond flour
1/3 cup soy flour
1/4 cup Splenda granulated
2 scoops unflavored Unjury protein powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsps pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup ground flax seed (flax meal)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh blueberries
3/4 cup ground/chopped pecans (you can use walnuts, hazelnuts, etc)

1) mix brown sugar blend and oil till well mixed
2) add pumpkin, milk, sour cream and egg and mix again
3) in seperate bowl, mix all flours, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, salt, Splenda granulated, protein powder, and flax meal till well blended and lumps are gone
4) add wet mix to dry mix and blend thoroughly
5) fold in berries and nuts
6) bake in center of oven at 350 degrees for about 20 to 24 minutes or till toothpick inserted in center comes out clean

This batch made 18 regular cupcake sized muffins.  With those stats, each muffin is about 130 cals, 6.4 grams of fat but only .9 saturated, 12.8 grams of carbs that are 2.3 fiber and 5.4 sugars, and each muffin has about 5.4 grams of protein!

These rose nicely and were very moist and spongy, not dense like some recipes where you use the protein powder can be.  I think that the next time I try these I'll sub some oats for part of that all purpose flour!  And then sprinkle a few dry oats on top before baking!  I used fresh blueberries and they were soooooo juicy that they burst as you ate them!  Yummy!  I'm certainly not advocating making these an every day thing, but I recently commented to another postop that when you get a sweet tooth, you are probably better off to cave right away and have a bit of something (like a muffin!) than putting it off and putting it off till you eat a whole plate of muffins, cake, cookies, whatever!  I was able to eat two of these muffins as breakfast twice this past week.  But, that was my whole breakfast and added up to 260 calories, 25.6 carbs, and 10.8 grams of protein.  I will still be able to balance my day's budget of calories, carbs, and protein VERY easily!  These are supposed to freeze and reheat well, so I've bagged the rest and tossed them in the freezer for another sweet tooth day or a day when I want something like this for breakfast!
Hugs,
Lea

How WILL You Pass the Time???

The time will fly.  The two weeks between my consult and approval took YEARS longer to pass than the 4 weeks between approval and surgery!   

Some suggestions:
1) locate the local support options available and ATTEND the meeting to get to know other WLS folks
2) make an effort to meet other folks in your area who've had WLS (check the state listings for your state and the city someone is from is usually listed)
3) get rid of all clothing that is too big for you or that is the current size you wear in summer stuff once fall gets here
4) start browsing thrift shops for stuff in sizes 2 to 3 sizes smaller than you currently wear as you can go that far without walking out of your britches!
5) clean out your drawers and closets and get rid of items that really are beyond their life of usefulness--stretched out elastic, holes, stains, etc as you probably won't wear them much between now and Dec and won't wear them at all after that
6) clean out your pantry and cupboards and get rid of all that outdated stuff way in the back as you start to stock them with healthier options for the pre-op diet you mentioned (if you are like I was, you probably have some boxed items that are beyond their normal shelf life and just sitting there gathering dust!  TOSS them!)
7) de-clutter your home so that when it comes time to give it a good pre-op cleaning you'll have less to do
8) make a list of all the things you want to be able to do once you lose weight and set some goals for your self as a postop
9) document where you are now BEFORE you start to lose weight--measure your body and take good full body pictures for "before" pics!  I SOOOOOO wish I'd done this!  I have like ONE pic of me before surgery (always made sure I was behind the camera!) and it is only from the waist up!  There's a good chart for measuring your self at thinnerself.com
10) last but certainly not least--read, read, read on OH to be the best educated WLS patient you can be!

The time really will fly....  Stop worrying!  You're over the approval hump already!
Lea

I've made these several times now and everyone loves them.  In fact, most "normies" can't even tell that they are no-sugar-added OR that I added protein powder to them! 

Oatmeal/Chocolate Chip/Pecan Cookies with Protein Powder
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) margarine
3/4 cups Splenda brown sugar
1 cup granulated Splenda
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup almond flour
2 scoops Unjury unflavored protein powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 to 1 tsp salt
4 cups oats
1 bag chocolate chips  (there is a sugar free chocolate chip/chunk available now!)
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped nuts

Blend the margarine and both Splendas.  Then add the eggs and vanilla and mix again.  In a seperate bowl, combine the flours, protein, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Mix those really well and then add to the wet mixture.  Mix well.  Then stir in the chocolate chips and nuts (can use walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, almonds, whatever!).  Once those are well distributed, add the oats but add like 3 cups and then add more till you get a nice thick mix that isn't terribly wet.  It usually takes 4 cups, but I've used as little as 3 1/2 when I added coconut once (unsweetened of course!).

These bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes.  Store in cookie jar, tin, or just a rubbermaid or tupperware bowl with lid.  This recipe makes about 40 large cookies (2 1/2 to 3" in diameter).  Each cookie is about 150 calories, 18 carbs (2 fiber) and about 4 grams of protein when computed using pecans as the nuts.

Enjoy!
Lea

It depends on who you are and what you are measuring!  I started my preop diet on 7/13/06.  I had my surgery on 8/29/06.  By that time, I had lost from 410 down to 386.  I did not, however, measure my body till 9/13/06 when I weighed in at 370, so I don't know exactly how many inches I've actually lost already, just what I've lost since 9/13/06.  Those first 40 pounds' inches are unaccounted for, but here's how it breaks down for me:

MEASUREMENTS	9/13/2006	9/8/2007
Neck	15	13.25
Shoulders	57	43
Chest	48.5	35.5
Bust	55	40
Midriff	46.5	36.5
Waist	49.5	35
Hips	68	51
Thigh (X 2)	35.5	24
Calf (X 2)	23.5	18.5
Ankle (X 2)	9.75	9.5
Bicep (X 2)	23	15
Forearm (X 2)	13	10
Wrist (X 2)	7.5	6.5
TOTAL INCHES	564	421.25
TOTAL INCHES LOST		-142.75

SO, that is how it boils down for me just about now...  To compute your total inches, you add up all your measurements but you include the thigh, calf, ankle, bicep, forearm, and wrist measurements twice as you have two of each of those!  Always measure on the same side of your body!  To compute inches lost, subtract your total inches for the most recent measuring from the total inches for your original measuring...  Sort of a DUH I know, but not as clear for everyone.

I had already lost 40 pounds, so there are undoubtedly several more inches I could count if only I'd measured sooner.  I can't stress enough how important it is to measure your body before you begin to lose!  I've lost 184 pounds and OVER 142 inches...  WOW!

Last Weds (8/29) was my one year surgiversary...  The day got off to a good start with a pound lost after a couple weeks at the same weight.  I got some chores done and email answered.  I did angel duty for a new loser (carolinagirlngeorgia) and all was going good.  THEN I LEFT HOME!  LOL 

I had a few errands to run and had to pick up some grocery stuff to take to my daughter on the college campus about an hour from home...  I got the errands done and picked up the stuff she needed and headed her direction.  About 3 or 4 miles before I got there, my low coolant light came on....  SO, as I got into town, I stopped at the first mechanic I came to.  When I got out of the truck and walked around the hood, I could smell coolant and then noticed it streaming out from under the truck...  Not good!  They looked at it and told me "It looks like the water pump's shot."  Even less good! 

After a chat with my hubby and my regular mechanic, it was decided that I could crawl home as long as I kept my speed below about 45 mph and kept the coolant full.  So, we topped it off and I headed to the college to take care of business there.  I stuck around the college till after dark so it was cooler while I was to be driving home.  I headed out about 9:15 and got about 2 miles before the belt came off.  That meant that no water was circulating to cool the motor, the battery would run down because the alternator was not recharging it, AND I had no power steering!  SO, I whipped it around and drove 1 mile back to a McDonald's that is 2 doors down from the mechanic's shop.  I called my daughter's dorm and got her roomie to come pick me up.  I parked my truck at the mechanic's shop and locked it up with the keys hidden so I could tell them where they were the next day. 

Then, I spent the MOST uncomfy night on the spare bed in my daughter's dorm room.  I don't know how they sleep on those mattresses!  LOL  8 am the next morning, I am on the phone with the shop to see what is what with getting it fixed.  The good news is that they can get the parts today, but not till after 1:30 pm!  So, the earliest I can be back on the road is 3-3:30 pm!  I had to while away another day on the college campus...  This college is located in what we have so far determined to be the ONLY point in this whole state where I have no cell phone signal.  My daughter can't make long distance calls on her room phone without a calling card (it is local to call home, so never worried about this).  SO, I was stranded with no phone and no internet access!  I was miserable and SO bored!  I couldn't even check in on my angelette to see how she was doing!  But, by 3:45, I was back on the road and $215 poorer. 

What a way to spend my big day!

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
by Marianne Williamson

When asked what was the best advice anyone was given about having this surgery, the following comments were posted:

1) Eat slow and chew, chew, chew!

2) Sip, sip, sip!

3) Clean and disinfect your living space before your surgery.  It will keep you busy and keep your mind off the stress of the upcoming surgery in those last few days of preop time.  AND, it will make it easier to avoid infection after you return home.

4) Stop worrying!

5) Make up a schedule for meals, water, vitamins, and exercise.

6) Eat every 2 to 3 hours and drink water with a protein supplement between meals.

7) Do not drink (anything!) for 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after your meals.

8) Keep meals to what would have been "snack sized" portions as a preop.

9) Work your tool to the maximum potential in order to make the most of your honeymoon period.

10) Just because you CAN eat it doesn't mean you SHOULD eat it!

11) Lay your fork down between bites.  This helps keep you from eating too fast!

12)  RESEARCH!  Research every form of WLS.  Research your surgeon/hospital and any follow-up plan offered.  Research postop life.  Research yourself and be sure you can handle life as a postop!

13) Put away the scales and only weigh monthly the first few months.  This will save you TONS of frustration! 

14) Exercise as MUCH as possible as SOON as possible to help maximize your honeymoon period.

15) Lose as much weight as you can BEFORE surgery.  That is that much less you have to lose after surgery and it makes your surgery and your healing time easier.

16) Work out with weights! 

17) BEFORE surgery, increase your protein and start a vitamin supplement regimen so that you are used to it in advance.

18) Increase your activity level however you can.  No matter how sedentary your life is, you can do something!  Try leg lifts while sitting in a chair.

19) Don't Give Up!  You will have good weeks and bad weeks.  Sometimes it will seem like months!  But keep exercising and eating right!

20) Remember that everyone is different.  Just because one person lost 50 pounds in a couple of weeks does not mean you will.  And, you will stall at about 3 weeks out.  Don't worry!  That is just your body adjusting to the rapid loss.

21) Visit your surgery date forum.  You will find that many of those people are going through similar things at the same time!

22) Measure yourself before surgery and periodically after surgery.  This will save your sanity during stalls when the scales are not moving!  Use Thinner Self or another tracking site to track the changes.