LoserMama

I am jealous that you get to come home to full liquids! I have Clear liquids for a week first.
The loser's bench side will respond, but here is what i did. I am somewhat worried because I hear so often that our tastes change post-op and that things that were good pre=op won't be palatable post-op, but I wanted to have stuff on hand too.
I have:
2 cases of Isopure RTD Zero Carb (orange and grape)
2 cases of Premier Protein RTD from costco (which I am regretting -- eww)
A big set of samples from Vitalady -- my favorite purchase so far - REALLY like myofusion samples.
nectar samples of the fruit flavors
powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury chicken Soup
Unjury Unflavored
Body Fortress vanilla
Target whey Protein powder -- chocolate
New Whey Protein Bullets
Jello -- both premade and not
sugar free pudding
eggs
Crystal Light
broth
Mini plates, bowls, silverware, etc from Bed Bath and Beyond
Magic bullet (life saver so far during pre-op)
Boxes of smooth Soup that are pourable so I hopefully don't waste too much -- pacific natural brands I think? Tomato/Red Pepper, Black Bean and Carrot Cashew Ginger
Soup in hand cans of creamy Tomato
Honestly though, I am hoping I can hear that I can do the same thing post-op I did pre-op when I get to post op full liquids, which is get Soups from places I really like, like PF Changs Hot and Soup Soup, and blend them and add unflavored protein. I don't know if that will be allowed post op though.

I have this same question. I don't need to be able to down a bunch, but I'd love to be able to take a couple of big gulps without worry

Hi, i fear I am going to be a slow loser. Here I am 11 days post op, and i've barely lost anything. its hard to watch all the posts of people saying, "oh hey, I lost 15 lbs at my 1 week post op appt." Not me -- 2 lbs. Sigh. I was wondering if you all had slow weight loss from the very beginning?

Hi, i fear I am going to be a slow loser. Here I am 11 days post op, and i've barely lost anything. its hard to watch all the posts of people saying, "oh hey, I lost 15 lbs at my 1 week post op appt." Not me -- 2 lbs. Sigh. I was wondering if you all had slow weight loss from the very beginning?

Hey there everyone...its been a long time since I've popped in here ,but coming up on one year I am thinking of all of you. Still have about 21 lbs to go to a final goal for me, but feeling awesome about being darn close to 100 lbs down!
Hope you all are well. I need to get back on a cleaner eating track, and better exercise again.

This is a really old topic, but I'm thinking a lot about emotional eating and what tools I can use to work on that part of all of this. I was an OA/DA member about six years back....it was helpful, but it was very depressing to me. I am not sure what it is about it? Someone earlier in the thread talked about manifested demons and some of that is true to me. I felt so down and focused on my failure in OA/DA.
I am really seeking somethign that can be positive and proactive. Not sure what that is yet. I joined "shrinkyourself.com" in hopes that that might help, because the bookw as good, but the site is weird and feels repetiive, but i'm trying.
I'm with others about WW. it felt like a joke to me, because so many of the people are there to lose 20 lbs or something....and it just feels like while it touches at emotional eating, sure, its superficial.
I am going to try the WLS support groups.
I consider this whole forum a WLS support group. But I am also surprised that there isn't a forum just around psychological/emotional eating issues to discuss those!
Well, rambling, but it is what I am thinking about.

Yeah, I think that is what I am thinking about. I have struggled with this a lot over the last year, thinking about this. I guess i've found that I react a lot better with encouragement rather than bluntness, and that is me. I don't need someone to sugar coat it for me, I just dont' need someone judging me, because I already do it a lot worse to myself.
A lot of people got here through denial, very true and no doubt. Denial probably plays a role in most emotional eating issues. but it may not be the biggest issue for all of us.
I got here not by denial as my primary problem, I've always been painfully aware of how bad what I was doing was, but unable to stop. I've spent years continually beating myself up and being way more blunt and over critical with myself than anyone else could ever be. For me, using language that represents a judgement on an action, is very black and white when I talk to myself or someone else, and is something I'm really trying to change. So a word like "cheating" is just a super loaded word to me. Which for those of us who have this particular flaw in thinking, cheating leads to feeling I'm a failure, and then that leads to thinking why bother and more failure. But saying I made a mistake, helps me know I can do better next time.
Think of it this way....if you forget to take a dose of a medication you need to take, do you consider that you have cheated? I don't. I don't think I'm a failure or that I've completely blown it.
Taking the emotions and judgement out of things is helping me a lot in getting to a new normal.
The other thing that is interesting is how we define cheating. The original poster, Indymom, said:
which is a way different definition of cheating than I have. I think that if I have eaten one more bite than I should have, or a type of food I shouldn't have, that I have cheated. And I'm trying to beat that kind of judgemental feeling out of myself, because when I feel that way I feel like a failure.
I'm encouraged by this kind of discussion about what works for us.
If useful, here is a coverage on this from Beck Diet Solution, which is the cognitive behavioral based therapy approach to eating issues developed by Judith Beck, who's father actually developed CBT.
The other thing that I think about, is in post-op diet, what really IS cheating? I mean with the super wide variation of advice on the post-op diet, those of us who research and see all this variation, you realize that there is a WIDE definition of what is considered ok during the immediate post-op diet phase. My single surgeon and his plan is not the definitive be-all end-all of advice. I don't take one person's plan and advice as my absolute truth. If there were a gold standard out there, or if all of their advice was remarkably similar, then I'd say the choices i've made since surgery that deviated from my doc's handout would be something to think more about why I've made other choices.
Example there -- the Cornell VSG post op guidelines say we can have oatmeal, grits, farina. My doc's guidelines say no. Am I cheating if I have thinned oatmeal?
All very interesting.
I *think* the original post was targeted at folks that are blatantly doing really major things that are not good for them in the post-op phase, which I support, but where is the line? This really triggered me to do a lot of thinking! Thanks!

I'm having major issues right now with this same thing. Its what I feared pre-op, that made me feel like i should probably go for bypass. I still have the ability to eat the crap and I haven't conquered the beast of head hunger. I am currently being done in by two very bad foods that I keep eating, and they blow my calorie count. And i think the worst thing is, I'm still losing (albeit slower than I should be) so I'm having trouble motivating myself to change my behavior. I know I need to get back on the straight and narrow.

Yeah, exactly this. For me, this tiem period is hard, because i actually do have to buy new clothes, but because its clothes, it feels frivolous, so I feel that guilt, too, but its unfounded.
That said, I do definitely have problems with impulse control with spending (in addition to food--call it compulsion, addiction, whatever you want to call it, the end result is behaviors we have difficulty stopping that are relieved by doing things that taken one at a time, seem harmless, but if its a repeated pattern, it adds up to big problems.)
If you always pay off your cards and have never had debt/money issues in the past, I wouldn't feel guilty, but I would be watchful as to whether the new behavior is now soothing things that food used to. Your gut about it is probably right.

Per the doctors orders, since I've lost over 10% of my body mass, am sleeping well and continuing to lose weight, the doctor has officially taken me off the CPAP machine!!!! WOOOHOOO!!!!

I just wanted to say "hugs" and I am glad you reached out. you know what you need to do, but knowing and beign able to do are not the same thing. I deal with food addiction too, and its NOT EASY. Everything has already been said, but get yourself that counselor right away, someone familiar with WLS. Also, I know I have mentioned this book on here before, but pick up Beck Diet Solution -- its a step by step approach for learning the new skills we need to change our behaviors. Work through it day by day.
OA would also be a good choice in addition to a counselor.

Very cool. I hope maybe I can do that kind of home test very soon. I kind of figure once I reach 199 that might be my trigger point. I still am not certain if what my ENT told me is true, that I may still have sleep apnea because of my deviated septum. The surgery for deviated septum, I have heard, is NOT fun. So I don't know about that part, but a home sleep study would be awesome. I'll have to ask!

That is awesome!! Like you, I seem to be experiencing resolution too, and my doc also wants to see how I do for a while on solids with a couple more A1cs, but i'm not on meds anymore. he won't declare me resolved until he sees a 3 month a1c of me being on solids, but with the readings I've had since being on solids, I think it will be good news.
congrats to you!!!

That is awesome!! Like you, I seem to be experiencing resolution too, and my doc also wants to see how I do for a while on solids with a couple more A1cs, but i'm not on meds anymore. he won't declare me resolved until he sees a 3 month a1c of me being on solids, but with the readings I've had since being on solids, I think it will be good news.
congrats to you!!!

Knitting and crochet, and now in the past week, have incorporated regular exercise at a gym. So that is taking the place of a lot of the old preoccupation with food at the moment. Trying to establish new things to do instead of eat is hard!

I'm slow too. Just had my 6 week followup appt and according to their scales have lost 26 lbs in six weeks. I stalled for about two weeks starting at 3 weeks, then after AF came I dropped another 3 lbs, and now I'm just sitting there again. But I hope if I keep eating right (Nut said I was doing a great job after reviewing myfitnesspal logs) and starting moving more now. Moving more is my big goal this month.

Definitely find out if its ulcers, would not be good if that were the case.
In the case its not ulcers, there are some great steps you can take about truly really getting good at distinguishing between hunger and desire/craving. For me, I thought I knew what hunger was, but i realyl didn't. You might know for sure, but for example,its ok for your stomach to growl, that doesn't necessarily mean you're hungry. Post op our stomachs growl a lot while they are processing the food, it doesn't mean we're hungry. I've also found that I don't feel like I have to eat urgently if its real hunger. Hungry is different -- for me I'm learning that I feel kind of hollow. You can also conduct an 'experiment' to tolerate hunger. i.e. when you feel that hunger, get going doing something else -- if it fades away, its possible it was just digestion or a craving or whatever, but the point being, you will survive it without needing to eat.
Its not fun if there is not a medical reason for feeling hungry. I am sorry you are feeling this way and feel like there may not be relief in sight. I hope the GI doc gives answers that might be more clear cut.
Any chance you are having blood sugar related issues? That can also make you feel like you have to stuff food in your mouth right now, and it feels crazy.

This is an interesting thread. The immediate post op time period isn't a time for cheating for sure. But I know I have made choices in the past month that were mistakes.
This may be a bunny trail, but, the word cheating is one I have issues with. Anyone reading or read Beck Diet Solution? It talks about mistakes versus cheating. I think the majority of folks in here who talk about cheating on their post op diets make mistakes, they don't cheat. In all likelihood, a few bites too much or the wrong thing are not going to be the undoing of our sleeve. But when we attach words like cheating to it, there is such a message of immorality and failure to it..I dunno.
I guess apart from the extreme posts like eating a burger and popcorn a couple of days post op, I'd rather see us encourage each other in getting back to doing the right thing. Many many of us got here because of emotional eating and black and white thinking, so I'd rather us offer each other support to do the right behaviors.
While we did have extreme surgery, for many of us the ability to be perfectly compliant doesn't magically occur just because we had the surgery. Maybe I shouldn't have been approved, dunno, but I think I am doing a helluva lot better, even with mistakes, now, than preop!! But by my former harsh use of the word cheating , I definitely have done so many times in the past month. But each time I eat I have a chance to do it better.
Eta--not upset by original post, just challenging us to think about what cheating really is and encourage us to help each other out of black and white thinking!!!!

Great news from both of you on healed leaks. Continued improved health to all of you.

Yeah, I think that is what I am thinking about. I have struggled with this a lot over the last year, thinking about this. I guess i've found that I react a lot better with encouragement rather than bluntness, and that is me. I don't need someone to sugar coat it for me, I just dont' need someone judging me, because I already do it a lot worse to myself.
A lot of people got here through denial, very true and no doubt. Denial probably plays a role in most emotional eating issues. but it may not be the biggest issue for all of us.
I got here not by denial as my primary problem, I've always been painfully aware of how bad what I was doing was, but unable to stop. I've spent years continually beating myself up and being way more blunt and over critical with myself than anyone else could ever be. For me, using language that represents a judgement on an action, is very black and white when I talk to myself or someone else, and is something I'm really trying to change. So a word like "cheating" is just a super loaded word to me. Which for those of us who have this particular flaw in thinking, cheating leads to feeling I'm a failure, and then that leads to thinking why bother and more failure. But saying I made a mistake, helps me know I can do better next time.
Think of it this way....if you forget to take a dose of a medication you need to take, do you consider that you have cheated? I don't. I don't think I'm a failure or that I've completely blown it.
Taking the emotions and judgement out of things is helping me a lot in getting to a new normal.
The other thing that is interesting is how we define cheating. The original poster, Indymom, said:
which is a way different definition of cheating than I have. I think that if I have eaten one more bite than I should have, or a type of food I shouldn't have, that I have cheated. And I'm trying to beat that kind of judgemental feeling out of myself, because when I feel that way I feel like a failure.
I'm encouraged by this kind of discussion about what works for us.
If useful, here is a coverage on this from Beck Diet Solution, which is the cognitive behavioral based therapy approach to eating issues developed by Judith Beck, who's father actually developed CBT.
The other thing that I think about, is in post-op diet, what really IS cheating? I mean with the super wide variation of advice on the post-op diet, those of us who research and see all this variation, you realize that there is a WIDE definition of what is considered ok during the immediate post-op diet phase. My single surgeon and his plan is not the definitive be-all end-all of advice. I don't take one person's plan and advice as my absolute truth. If there were a gold standard out there, or if all of their advice was remarkably similar, then I'd say the choices i've made since surgery that deviated from my doc's handout would be something to think more about why I've made other choices.
Example there -- the Cornell VSG post op guidelines say we can have oatmeal, grits, farina. My doc's guidelines say no. Am I cheating if I have thinned oatmeal?
All very interesting.
I *think* the original post was targeted at folks that are blatantly doing really major things that are not good for them in the post-op phase, which I support, but where is the line? This really triggered me to do a lot of thinking! Thanks!

This is an interesting thread. The immediate post op time period isn't a time for cheating for sure. But I know I have made choices in the past month that were mistakes.
This may be a bunny trail, but, the word cheating is one I have issues with. Anyone reading or read Beck Diet Solution? It talks about mistakes versus cheating. I think the majority of folks in here who talk about cheating on their post op diets make mistakes, they don't cheat. In all likelihood, a few bites too much or the wrong thing are not going to be the undoing of our sleeve. But when we attach words like cheating to it, there is such a message of immorality and failure to it..I dunno.
I guess apart from the extreme posts like eating a burger and popcorn a couple of days post op, I'd rather see us encourage each other in getting back to doing the right thing. Many many of us got here because of emotional eating and black and white thinking, so I'd rather us offer each other support to do the right behaviors.
While we did have extreme surgery, for many of us the ability to be perfectly compliant doesn't magically occur just because we had the surgery. Maybe I shouldn't have been approved, dunno, but I think I am doing a helluva lot better, even with mistakes, now, than preop!! But by my former harsh use of the word cheating , I definitely have done so many times in the past month. But each time I eat I have a chance to do it better.
Eta--not upset by original post, just challenging us to think about what cheating really is and encourage us to help each other out of black and white thinking!!!!

This isn't about watching people eat, but sorta related.
I have already found myself noticing people like me (obese) and wondering what their story is and what they want to do about their weight, too. its a very weird feeling that I feel ashamed of I just feel like I am on the road to feeling better physically and about my appearance, and I wish that for them too, but its very patronizing and I need to cut it out.
I think its kind of like the phenomenon of when you have a new car or something and suddenly notice that car everywhere. I think it will fade. I am counseling myself about it.

This is cracking me up. I haven't named my sleeve, but I will tell you that my little tiny pillow that I've carried around to protect my tummy from kids and dogs post-op and to push against me when I'm achy, I named him. I have a history of naming essential pillows. My body pillow during my pregnancies was Phil. And this little pillow is called Bobby B. Said like the person who does the Whitney Houston parody on SNL.
Now, to think of a name for my sleeve. Hmmm.. It better be unique.

Hey a question, as we are now settling in, instead of one mondo thread, could we maybe do a checkin thread per week or something? We could start our first one next week with the new year?
Maybe have one for a special challenge too? Soon our last round of sleevers will join us on the bench, might be fun to do some challenges as soon as everyone is past the immediate post op Owie time?
Hey, do you guys recall long you were told to keep using the breathing thing and doing the foot circles and flexes?

I made it through surgery ok..have been resting a bit. Walking as much as I can. I've been in since Tuesday and kept longer due to swallowing issues. Hopefully that will resolve itself. I knew what to expect going into it so it's not so bad. Thanks to all of you for the kind thoughts and prayers, it really means alot!