swizzly

Great job -- looking very good! Love the way you've kept such good track in pictures, I only have two pictures -- before, and one about three weeks ago.

I only have McD's and BK to choose from, and I am not a fan of either. But when needs must, I order a cheeseburger with extra pickles and eat it with only a small part of the top or bottom bun. And usually a fry or six from the hubs. But potatoes of any sort are real hard on my usual-sleeve-of-steel, so I take it real easy on the fries or I pay for it. I've never been that into McD and BK, so I am not worried about ending up in some fast-food gutter with my Big Mac in a plain brown bag...

NSAIDs are allowed for sleevers by my program. I've been taking them since just two weeks post-op because of an injury, but I had to take extra PPIs at first, now I just take them with food.

Very cool!! I am impressed. Keep it up!! I couldn't run for 20 minutes now, though I did sprint to catch a train yesterday and then noticed I wasn't all out of breath. Wowza.

What an awesome post. Seriously. Thanks for that -- and you look really good.

You look great, you have such a pretty face (and thin bod to go with it)!

OMG, I'm crying here -- I had no idea what that was so I googled it. Awesome acronym.

Fab. U. LOUS!!! Well done you!!

I'm also always wondering about the carbs and how to count them. I'm required to have them, but I keep them all 'clean' -- like from veg or wholegrain stuff. What I'm wondering is, do you count the carbs in things like Beans? I eat a lot of beans and chili and stuff (to your earlier point about fiber...). There are also loads of carbs in prunes, would you count those? I'm trying to be good AND follow my Nut's plan. (Also, I have a girl crush on you now from watching all your YouTubes -- who knew?! I'm a YouTube n00b, but I've spent hours watching your videos, and Meggie's videos, and Renee's videos...amongst others. Good stuff!)

Here's my $.02 worth. I freely admit it: THIS IS THE EASY WAY OUT. For ME anyhow. I have had not one second of regret or buyer's remorse. I had a few rough days post-op, three days at most. I was nauseated for those days, and not once since then. I eat fine, I drink fine, I lose slowly and steadily (well, sort of steadily with the stair-step effect here and there). I've not had any food-mourning problems, nor any big cravings I couldn't manage. I didn't lose my hunger like others do, but I could manage hunger pre-op, I can handle it now. I'm not a food addict or a comfort eater. I also have IBS-C and the surgery seems to have alleviated some of the worse aspects of it. I haven't had emotional roller-coasters beyond what I normally have. I haven't cried or ranted and raged. I have felt pretty damn good the entire time. Seriously. Easy way out. FOR ME. I'm fine with that. There is no reason on god's green earth why I should NOT take the easy way out. Here's hoping that things keep going so well! Good luck! And I hope the more struggling sleevers in our community know that we support them and that we hope they feel better and more optimistic soon, but that in the meantime, they are free to share their feelings here and we will listen and try to help. That's the deal here. <3 2 all.

AGREE!! I always load up whenever I'm in the UK on bras and pants too. And NOW THEY SHIP HERE AS WELL! Just got a package yesterday...

Couldn't possibly agree more! I keep having a very strong suspicion (/memory) that being thin isn't all that exciting and for sure the novelty wears off, but the journey to getting there is engaging, (self-)absorbing and just more interesting than normal daily life, no? This being the case, I see no reason to hurry or stress a ton along the way, though I have my moments of course. Plus, I really LIKE some of the clothes I've gotten, I'd like to wear them for at least a few weeks/months at a time before I have to bin them. Yeah, I want to feel good and reach for the brass ring again, GDit, so that's what I'm focusing on. Life is short.

That is an AMAZING transformation, I think you look completely fab!!

I'm so sorry to hear it hasn't improved yet. Thoughts and best wishes are with you. Keep us posted.

Totally swell post. I couldn't agree more. And you are doing just fabulously. Keep on posting, remember that some of us need to hear what YOU say.

Oh god, I so hear you on this one. I ate half a red velvet 'whoopie pie' (cake with cream cheese icing sandwiched between?) and felt like complete and total crap. I was so out of it and dizzy and nauseated...ugh, took like a couple hours before I felt better. Never again! (I would have been fine if I'd only had a few bites over a few hours instead of half of it all at one go.)

This is such a very sensible approach, I can't help but agree. I don't know how tall you are Coops, but are you just shy of size 12 UK -- meaning, are you in 14s? I think that's a great size, looks trim and clothes hang well, but not super "skinny". Honestly, I only have a "goal' weight because everyone else does, but I don't actually have one. I will stop when my body says to stop, for me it's all about how I feel. Yes, I like the smaller clothing and all as well, but I don't need to be a stick insect, I'm not a kid anymore anyhow. I also very much admire your attitude and process -- I always read what you post, and your slow-loss situation has forced me to ask myself what I'd do in the same situation. Truth is, I think you've done a great job, and I will be super happy if I do as well! Truly.

I have been through many PPIs over the years, including Nexium and Prilosec. I finally found that Protonix (gen: pantoprazole) works best for me. I've also been using it since surgery and it is working aces. Doesn't take my hunger away though, curses!

Good question, I don't know either. And do you count carbs that are in good foods like dairy??

Woohoo! 35 lb is excellent!!

I'm four months out and have been hungry since one week post-op. I follow my plan of three meals + three snacks per day. I can't eat much at one go, but I do get hungry again pretty soon after. Kinda sucks, really. Oh well, it's manageable and I've still lost 50 lb in four months, so here's to staying hungry!!

FWIW, I have chewable Gaviscon galore, just bought some more when I was on vacation, it does work really well. (Doesn't make me not hungry though, unfortunately. ) My doctors and nutritionists get all up in my stuff about having too much artificial sweetener -- they think having sweet stuff causes cravings, even when it's not actual sugar. I'm not sure about their theory either, but they seem quite convinced. I'm not craving things per se (definitely not sweets), I'm just HUNGRY sometimes. Sigh...

Yeah, I was getting the special bariatric-specific meals, so the only 'sweet' thing I got was a wee tiny cup of SF Protein shake and a serving of SF panna cotta. Other than that, it was all savory stuff, which I was REALLY glad about!

Everything you've eaten would have been fine for my program, they served me mash when I was still in hospital, along with coffee. I too would watch the sugar levels on anything, but aside from that, seems fine to me. I think you should add in more protein if you can, but mostly focus on drinking loads of water. Good luck!

It DOES suck and make things more difficult. I find it almost more difficult in some ways, because pre-op if I was hungry, I would just eat something, no big whoop. And then I'd feel fine. But now I feel like I can only eat something when I'm supposed to, so then I start to obsess over when I can eat something and the hunger just gnaws at me in the meantime (it's not acid or anything, I've got that well-covered). I NEVER did that before. It's bumming me the eff out if I'm honest. I feel sometimes that I'm hungrier now than I ever was pre-op. Sigh.