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So today I had my first official checkup! It went well, and I was released now to get back into an excercise routine. So far, I've only been doing walks around the block.. I can hit up that treadmill again!!

Also, I went over my eating habits. The stuff I'm eating is fine.. fish, cheese, yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese, pudding, etc. I told my doctor that I'm starting to have a rough time hitting 70 g protein every day, and my calories have been more in the 500's, not 600-800 range. He told me that for my height (5'4.5"), I'm fine staying in the 500's and target 50 g protein.. Don't eat just because I need to hit 70! This is such a relief.. because I can more comfortably manage getting in 50 vs 70 g protein!

To really make this work for me, I need to target 5 pounds a week for the next couple of months still. I got the impression (although he didn't say this outright) that he was hoping I'd drop more than 20 by now. But, he mentioned everyone is different. Personally, I was hoping for more too, just so I don't feel as pressured to hit 40 in the next 2 months. Overall, my target is 60 pounds for the first 3 months. 

Also, I have to keep in mind, that as I pick up excercising again, building muscle means loosing inches more than pounds. However, despite this, we (my doctor and I) agreed that my target should still be 20 pounds more by week 8, and another 20 pounds by week 12. Wish me luck!

I can't wait to get home, finish up taxes and hit the treadmill! Well, taxes may push me to get on the treadmill tomorrow if I don't finish them soon enough. LOL!

Yeay - I made it to 1 month!! And my grand total?? 20.5 pounds!! Whohoo!! Right on track with what my surgeon advised I'd drop. :)

As for my past week - sort of sucked actually. My 3 year old caught some random stomach virus.. and a few days later, so did I. What's worse than being on a liquid/soft-food diet in the first place? Catching a stomach virus and not being able to take a bite of anything at all! Just 2 days ago, I literally got nothing down. Some pitiful sips of water, maybe 15 ounces out of the whole day. Worse than my first day out of surgery. But yesterday, I felt better, but was so light-headed and weak... mashed potatoes got me going. I tried popsicles, pedialite and such.. but none of it gave me strength. Had some mashed potatoes, then that also helped me drink more... today I feel way better. Phew!

Well, I'll be posting my updated photo later today, with my 1 month out measurements. Yippee!

Well, I'm now 3 weeks out, and down 14 pounds. Pretty cool, considering before, if I worked out uber hard and dropped my calories to 800 a day on my own, I would have only been down about 3-5 lbs in the same amount of time... only to regain it slowly over the next 3 weeks.

Feeling good still. Excited to be on soft foods - tastes yummy! I find myself grazing or drinking all day long now. I'm excited to try some fish this weekend!

I still need to be careful about twisting about too much, and the largest scar on my tummy still hurts. My whole belly area is sensitive, and I'm finally out of clean, stretched out jeans, and am dreading having to wash them. I just don't want to go through that first hour of the pants stretching out a little to be more comfortable. Even though I'm down in weight, anything pushing hard against my belly is not nice.

1 more week, and I'll remeasure myself and post the latest photo. Some people have said they see a difference in my face. I still don't really feel it, oddly enough. I guess since I'm still in the recovery period, it hasn't quite hit me.

Well, I'm 2 weeks out as of today. I'm quite excited about this mini-milestone. I'm down 10 pounds total since the surgery. Yay me!

I've been off the pain meds since last weekend, and for the most part, doing fine. I've been trying to entertain my taste buds with non-sweet flavors, since those sweet protein shakes have gotten old to me. Soups have been my savior there. I'm so excited to introduce an egg... Something that tastes totally different - yumm! 

As for hunger, I never feel hungry, only thirsty. So that keeps me sipping away. The gurgles have subsided some - still there, but now as loud! I've been doing my daily walks, and even hit over 40 ounces of water yesterday! Oddly enough, getting protein in is harder and I have to be more calculating now than before... 

Work has been OK, and as the day progresses, I'm counting the minutes before I can leave. My back really starts to ache which sucks. Luckily, I have a sit-stand work station, so at least I can toggle between sitting or standing, depending on how I'm feeling. Only minor sharper pains in my belly area - particularly one point that gets me at times. However, overall, it just feels like someone went to town punching at my belly and now it's soar all around. It's totally managable discomfort/sensitivity though.

Each day, I also notice more and more movement freeing up for me. I can sit up a bit quick or roll over in bed a little easier. So I suppose the healing is going fine. I can't wait to get passed the "walking around the block" phase and back onto the treadmill for a more focussed workout. 

I'm still loving everyone's posts out there on the message board. I'll keep chiming in with my two cents where I might have any value-add comments to share.

Well, I'm on my second week, and freaked the other day because I didn't loose any weight. I know I shouldn't worry, but I did. I did find, however, that walking is key.. and in turn, excercise is key. The day I didn't loose weight, I missed my walks because I was too busy up and about doing other things, thinking that would make up for it. But, it doesn't. I still need to dedicate in walk time each day to keep up my progress. I want to take full advantage of this tool! 

So far, I'm done about 7 pounds since the surgery date. Feeling OK... getting some pretty good back pains that has been helped greatly by a heating pad. I'm trying my first day at avoiding any liquid pain killers. 

It's also my first day back to work. Feels like I've been gone a month - I'm so out of the loop on things. I'm slowly trying to ease back into my old responsibilities and catch up on what I've missed in the past week or so. (I work in a really dynamic place!)

The Message Boards have been fantastic at answering some random questions for me. Reading experiences of others has also helped. All in all, I'm feeling pretty good. Still taking things a bit easy, and can't overdo anything in the bending/twisting at the torso department. I'll be happy when I can feel back to normal. Counting the days before I can attempt soft foods too! The protein sweet drinks are too much, but I'm doing the best to get at least 40 ounces in a day right now. The soups are great and taste yummy.. so I find they go down faster too!

Hello All, Just posting how I am.. I went in Thursday, and came out fine. They did find a haital hernia (spelled right?). Part of my stomach squeezed through my diaphram. Apparently this is quite common, and mine was inflamed. Another funny thing, is the body doesn't know how to respond to a hurting diaphram, so I feel pain in my shoulder area too. Liquid viccodin is my best friend right now. Trying to wait at least 6 hours between each dose. My doc said Saturday (today) would be the worst. If so, I think I'll be fine going forward. I've been doing my best to hit 70 grams protein today, and actually came close. It took a all day, from 8 am until about 20 minutes ago (9:30 pm) to do it. Getting any more liquids in though now seems impossible. I drank 20 ounces of one of the fruit nectars, and a beef soup. Both, I mixed in extra protein powder. Pain seems constant for the most part - burping and gurgling a lot.  I'll post photos in the next few days. I did take before photos and measurements. I'll update my profile with all the data as I figure out how to navigate this site. Thanks to those who wished me well. I also had a ton of friend support.. and will stay home this week to rest up. My first post-op isn't until April 3rd - seems like an eternity away.  Dr. Jossart and staff were excellent. I didn't feel or remember a thing during the operation. Had a fantastic anesthesiologist too who knocked me out just in time - I was getting a little panicked just before the operation. Well, cheers to a quick and healthy recovery to all of us who underwent this in the past week!