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Hi all. I had a lapse into vaping and have surgery the 13th. I'm self pay and am wondering if insurance is the main cause for nicotine testing. I'm afraid there will be a nicotine test before the surgery. I am aware it was foolish. Please just peoples' experience with insurance- not desirous of scolders or pleas, or the science of quitting. If you don't understand what that means, please refrain from posting on this thread.

My highest recorded weight was 392 (in 2017). I was 389 when I started the program to have WLS and since my program required a 6 month monitored weight loss I lost 68 pounds during that time and was 321 on my surgery day. I'm currently 178 pounds. For reference... I had the Loop Duodenal Switch/SADI-S/SIPS surgery. It's a gastric sleeve stomach, just with the added intestinal bypass bit.

Congratulations on getting to Onederland! That is amazing! I am 17 pounds away from it myself and it seems unbelievable that I could ever be there again. I totally understand what you mean about clothes. It's hard to overcome years of never fitting into anything and it's overwhelming to figure out what to wear. Lizonaplane suggested Nordstrom. I haven't shopped there in years because I was too big, but last time I went they were fantastic at trying to fit me for a strapless bra. I wear one of those off the chart sizes, so they couldn't help me, but they sure tried and never made me feel like a freak like I have often felt at other places. Best service ever. Again, I congratulations on your success! Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

I got my approval from insurance today!! Yay now to get my date they’re calling this week!!!

Congratulations on your success. If you always hated shopping because things didn't look good or you didn't know what to buy or look for to try on and now you don't know your size, consider going to Nordstrom. The salespeople there are really good at helping you find things that work for you and their bra sales people will measure you and figure out the best size and type of bra for you. I do not work for Nordstrom, I just found last time I lost a lot of weight I got overwhelmed easily by all the options and Nordstrom was really helpful. Plus, my mom hates shopping and she would only go there for the longest time because of how helpful they are. It's expensive, yes, but you get what you pay for. If that's out of your budget, try Chico's. Their staff is also very helpful, but you have to like their style of clothing!

I grew as a chubby kid but once I entered school, I was kept in sports my whole life so being skinny was my normal life. It wasn't until I was diagnosed with PCOS at the age of 22. I was at 150 pounds. A tad bit overweight but hey, I was a university kid who would party, drink and eat junk all the time. What was I expecting? it's what us, uni kids do... right? PCOS never tempered with my life so why care. It wasn't until I was 24 when the weight became my biggest nightmare. It was as if it came with vengeance, full force. This is when everything 'clicked' for me. I would always do crash diets, starve, Intermediate fasting, juicing... you name it, I've tried it. NOTHING WORKED. I would diet with no weight loss. AND TRUST ME... I CALORIE COUNTED EVERY GRAIN OF RICE OR OUNCE. I would go to the gym religiously for 2 hours at a time...I would weigh myself every morning in hopes I finally lost a pound. This developed an unhealthy addiction and I ended up with an eating disorder. I would give up on dieting and binge eat thousands of calories at a time. I would feel guilty, mentally, emotionally, and psychically. I would vomit and start over. I missed the "skinny" me desperately to the point I jeopardized my body, my mind and killed my metabolism due to my eating disorder. I was sitting at my heaviest at 210. For some, this weight isn't much but keep in mind- I didn't feel like myself anymore. I wasn't happy. I would drink myself to sleep. I would cry because I felt that I could have done better with taking care of my body, But Instead, I tortured my body thinking I was doing the "right thing." Scared and lost, I turned to my last resort and to fix my alcohol addiction and health around with the VSG. I am now 1 month post op and down to 169. I hope to get down to 110 like I used to be. But honestly, I just want to be happy again. This time. HEALTHY, regardless of the weight. People think that only thin people have eating disorders but, oh boy are they wrong. I am still learning how to deal with my new tummy. But What I keep in mind is, that this surgery is a tool. Not a 'miracle' surgery. I still need to eat healthy to get the results. And I aim to do so.

I think it's important to talk about what we're eating. We do a lot of that. In minutia. We lable foods good and evil. We obsess about the "right" diet, calories, choices, etc.... But that's really the easy part. The hard part is figuring out WHY we're eating. WHY we ate ourselves to morbid obesity, and what need we were trying to address when we put that food in our bodies. I feel like if those needs aren't figured out and meaningfully delt with this whole process is really vulnerable to failure. I feel like we never talk about why we ate so much. I'm not saying we need pity party hour with extensive confessionals chronicallying every challenge, insecurity and poopy life event...lol. But I feel like sharing those little eureka moments were we've identified some little unmet need that resulted in bad choices....would be a good thing. For instance.... I used to get the KFC six million calorie dinner with the 12 pieces of chicken, 3 sides, biscuits and the chocolate chip cake....after grocery shopping. It was almost an unwritten thing. I deserved it. In some weird justification, I figured that I was shopping, carrying stuff in, putting things away, selflessly giving up time to a task I sort of despised for my family. Of course I deserved chicken! But really, what I wanted at the core of things....was support. I wanted to feel appreciated, and rewarded for being a good doobie. I wanted to feel nurtured after a stressful task that I hated. These days....we have a new rule at the house. The person who does the grocery shopping gets to relax and take a bath while the other person does the cooking. And you know what? It works. I feel appreciated, supported. And I eat a more balanced decent dinner and have a win. That feels good. I learned that I geninely don't like asking for help...and that I need to more often. Just writing that makes me cringe. My bariatric therapist did a lot of talking about the "whys" of over eating, and finding ways to get the desired needs met that aren't self sabotaging. I wish we talked about the "whys" more.

I agree - "why" is a key question. I expressed it this way in an earlier post:

Well my "why" was NOT due to over eating. I had several health issues that contributed to me not being able to lose easily or normally. I also had a bad habit of ONLY eating once a day (just dinner) and while it may not have been the best choices (my one meal would be stuff like pasta or include bad starches with my lean meat), I did not go hog wild with second/triple helpings/etc. Just my one and done. But many times I also would never eat veggies. Not that I don't like them just I would never cook them. No clue why. But yeah, I think my problem was not eating enough throughout the day or at the correct times. My metabolism is/was ****! I'm also not one to eat sweets or even salty snacks. Just not my thing. On a special occasion/party, yeah. But not on the regular. If anything I'd get a craving for stuff like lunchmeat or cheeses periodically. I don't know, several of my docs had me keep food journals and logs over the years and most times their comments would be stuff like, "You obviously know what you should be eating. Your logs looks good. You're just not eating enough or the correct amount of times throughout the day." Or "Cut back on some of these fruits." Or "You need to start eating breakfast." Or "You really shouldn't skip breakfast and lunch." Stuff like that. It's definitely been challenging though trying to think differently when it comes to eating and when to eat. Especially after surgery since you're not always hungry. And now, since I'm trying to break my old habit of NOT eating cause I'm not hungry, I try to anyway just to fuel myself correctly. Even if it's just a little something.

It takes a lot to stretch your tummy - eating large portions, many times a day, over a considerable period of time. If you’re sticking to your diet & your recommended portion size you can’t stretch your tummy. But I understand your concerns & your desire to be hyper vigilant. This is all very different to what you’ve ever experienced before & consequently you question many of your decisions & don’t want to mess up. We’ve all been there. I remember taking it very slowly when I introduced new foods & cooked them very simply. My tummy had always been a bit fussy so I expected it to be more so after surgery. You’re fortunate you haven’t had any issues with nausea or being unwell. I had nausea from my multi vitamins & consequently had the foamies & vomited a few times but I found I could generally eat most foods. If something didn’t sit well one day, it usually was ok in a week or so. In the beginning it was often that the food tasted disgusting because my taste buds had changed not because the food itself upset me. It can be a lot of trial & error to begin so take the time you need. I followed my plan pretty closely. I also asked my dietician about alternatives for foods I didn’t like or wanted to try. Honestly, I wasn’t hungry or all that interested in food but I kept to a routine of eating to ensure I got calories & nutrients in. If you continue to stick to your plan, recommended portion sizes & meals per day, calorie goals (not every one has them) & meet your protein & fluid goals, you’ll be fine. When you get to more solid foods, your restriction will likely kick in if you eat too much or too quickly. It certainly helps keep you on track. Good luck.