Leaderboard

I had a sleeve done yesterday, late morning, and I am about 24 hrs out. My doc put me on gabapentin the day prior, and I had some dilautid in recovery. SO much LESS pain than I anticipated. I was about to drink water and broth all afternoon and night with minimal discomfort. Walked twice up and down the halls... today am feeling well enough to get out of bed alone use the bathroom and walk without assistance. Had a tiny (1/2) dose of some narcotic overnight, more as a precaution, otherwise have been comfortable with Tylenol and torodol. Good luck to all the upcoming surgeries! Sent from my SM-G973U using BariatricPal mobile app

Surgery was the best medical decision I ever made! I just wish I had done it 5 years sooner!! It's embarrassing to admit how much I was obsessed with food prior to surgery. I was at a fast food drive thru at least once a day, if not twice a day. Parties were more about the food than they were about the people. Vacations were planned around what restaurants we would we go to. Not only do I have a brand new body, but I have a brand new mind! Now that I'm not thinking about food all of the time, I have this mental clarity that allows me to think about things that truly matter. I'm a better mother, better wife, and better friend. I truly love myself -- both inside and out!!!

Not for a second. And these Quest Peanut Butter Cups are delicious!

I somehow missed this thread when it was first started. I just found it and enjoyed reading everyone's NSVs! I have a lot of similar ones, but here are a few of mine: I used to have to keep the steering wheel in my car raised to make room for my belly, and it blocked my view of the clock and temperature. Now I can put it low enough to see the whole dashboard. The other day, I climbed 12 flights of stairs like it was nothing. Didn't even have to stop for a break. Amazing how easy it is without carrying a whole extra person! I used to leave a lot of extra time when going to work, meetings, etc. because walking to another building or up stairs would leave me sweaty. I used to carry around a fan and small towel so I could cool off/dry off after getting sweaty. I also liked to be super early to meetings to make sure I wouldn't have to squeeze behind someone to get to a chair. Now I can just get there on time like a normal person and not worry about any of that. I was taking a walk recently (which is crazy in itself -- I never used to just go outside and take a walk!) and I had to move off the road while a car passed, and I tripped and fell in the grass. When I was 300+ pounds, a fall like that would have hurt and it would have been hard to get up. This time, I just jumped right back up like it was nothing. I no longer dread meeting people in person for the first time as I used to when I knew they would think less of me once they found out how fat I was.

Exactly! Instead of beating ourselves up for not reaching our goal weight, we should focus on how much we have accomplished! And for most of us, the original goal weight was a fairly arbitrary number. The important thing is that you are way healthier than you were two years ago. Congrats! Well if we’re doing confessions, I’ll admit that I can have mimosas (yes, plural) and not suffer. Weird story, but I actually ran into my bariatric surgeon at a padel ball tournament last fall. Weirder still, my husband and I got paired up against him and his wife. Mimosas and breakfast burritos were flowing and my bari-surgeon himself poured me a mimosa after our match! I told him I either had room for the mimosa or the burrito and his response was “damn surgeons, can’t trust ‘em” Lol, I chose the mimosa 🤣 Hope everyone is doing well So far I’m hanging into the high 130’s and I too think that I look much better now with 5 extra pounds on. I seem to be in constant flux-regaining then losing the same 5-7 pounds. I’d like it if I had a bit more consistency, but as long as I can keep within my window I’ll take it.

Greetings Coexister, i does seem that I am not a dumper either because I’ve tested this several times. I did get a bad reaction from drinking whole milk kefir. I got a stomachache. I wonder is this a form of dumping syndrome? When I drank low fat or non fat kefir, I absolutely had no problems with the kefir. However, when I had a frozen yogurt, I didn’t experience any sickness in my physical body. In terms of losing weight, for the last three weeks, I have stayed the same weight. I haven’t gained or loss weight. I guess that’s a good thing. You know something, Coexister? I have often wondered if my Bariatric Surgeon actually did the RYGB on me. My recovery is very similar to when I got the VGS in 2016. I control my snacking by putting everything I eat in my dietary journal. My dietitian gave me a calorie target and I rarely go above my calorie target. If there’s a particular snack I want to have, I budget for it within my calorie budget. I also read these forums for insight and inspiration as everyone that uses these forums have pearls of wisdom to offer each other. I have no regrets that I proceeded to revision to the RYGB because I my weight is coming down again and I have no more GERD & heartburn anymore. I also can’t risk get throat cancer from the hideous GERD I suffered from before I had my RYGB. 😃 I am six weeks post op and today was my first day back on solid food. I’m going back on solid food slowly - introducing each new food slowly back into my diet.

My surgeon wanted to do the sleeve because of where I was (BMI around 40) but she told me up front that an endoscopy was required first to check for reflux and if it showed scarring then I’d have to do a bypass. I did have reflux some before but no scarring. Got the sleeve and I haven’t had reflux at all since.

I’m sorry to hear you’re having such bad reflux now. I hope all goes well with your revision. Of course I still have to talk to my surgeon but I’m definitely leaning towards bypass. The thought of my reflux getting worse really worries me. And congratulations on your weight loss - it looks like you’re doing great with that part of it. It’s so encouraging to see people’s post-surgery stats.

I'm 15 months post surgery (and in maintenance), and can eat about 1/2 of a cheeseburger and a few fries. It's great to be able to eat a little, enjoy the taste, and feel completely satisfied. In the beginning, I would feel full after one bite, so instead of ordering a burger for myself, I would just have a bite of my husband's burger instead. When I eat out, I usually order with the intention of having leftovers, so try to order things that will reheat well. If it's fast food, I'll opt for the kids meal, and still end up being able to share it with one of my kids.

Well said. I also generally agree with your overall point @Creekimp13. Self-starvation is harmful, non-sustainable and counter-productive in the end. And my experience taught me that SPEED of loss is not as important as continuing to lose. It took me almost two years to reach goal and toward the end I was losing only about 1-2 pounds per month. But even that slow loss adds up over time and I got where I wanted to be! But as @BayouTiger said, we really are all different. For instance, you said: This may often be true, but I am currently in maintenance and eating about 1000 calories per day. I'm not restricting myself to that number, I eat about six mini-meals per day and plus small snacks whenever I am hungry. And I am exactly maintaining on that intake (besides normal fluctuations). I track my food pretty carefully, so my calories counts tend to be pretty precise. Some days I may have what I call a "munchie" day and eat more - I don't fight it. Some days I'm uninterested in food for some reason and I'll eat less - I don't force it (besides trying to hit my protein goal). But it averages to about 1000 calories per day. I'm short at 5'1", I've lost more than half my body weight, and I'm guessing I have a fairly low BMR. So the assumption that everyone eating 1000 calories a day or less is crash dieting for quick results is not always valid. As @BayouTiger said, I know your heart is in the right place and someone out there probably needs to read what you wrote. But you can't lump everyone together.