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Everything sounds perfectly normal - all the way to the frustration with the liquid diet and lack of energy. It improves rapidly as you get to the point where you can increase your Protein intake and get enough fluids each day. I went from always sweating to freezing within a week of surgery, even without losing much weight in that time frame. It gets better but I no longer wander around without a jacket on in the winter, that's for sure. Caffeine withdrawal and losing the food crutch that we often don't even realize we're leaning on is a challenge and will remain one in the early stages of your journey. You can and will overcome this. And just to prepare you, once you're on mushies you're likely to experience frustration all over again when you realize that you can only eat two or three bites before feeling full. This entire part of the process passes far more quickly than you think it will and before you know it you'll be several months out giving advice and support to people in exactly the spot you're in now. Good luck, and congrats on your new sleeve, ~Cheri

You don't need help unless your diet is the reason you're losing slowly. There are a huge number of active threads right now (I've even replied on a few!) that address slower loss. If you're eating a balanced diet of Protein, good carbs and quality fats, you're doing everything you can. We love to read the superman/woman losses while we're researching surgery, but the reality is that many more people lose slowly than quickly. I took 17 months to lose 107 pounds - that's just over six pounds a month but many of those months I had less than a three pound loss. I'm no less a success for the longer journey. Focus less on how quickly you lose and more on what you're doing to overcome the bad habits that made you obese. Learn moderation and build healthy eating habits so that once you do achieve goal you have the ability to stay there without a struggle. And definitely read the recent threads about binge eating and grazing! It's a behavior that you will have to address in order to have a better relationship with food. Good luck, you're not alone. ~Cheri

Yep, if you didn't get a nutritional guideline, ask for one. It's an important part of the healing process. That said, despite three weeks on liquids (ten days on clears) and getting the okay to start soft/mushy foods after three weeks, I didn't eat anything more "normal" than cottage cheese, cream of wheat, yogurt or Soup for a while. I just didn't have room and didn't have the desire to eat. ~Cheri

I only told people that would be worried about me having major surgery (my parents, for instance) and didn't tell anyone else until much later. My in-laws still don't know, because my husband is very private about things like that. It wasn't until after I was already showing success and after I'd lost a considerable amount of weight that I started being open about the fact that I had surgery. Now, at goal (or at least, having reached goal before getting pregnant), I have no qualms about sharing information about my surgery. I will say that once you're already successful, people are less likely to say judgmental things about the "right" vs. "wrong" way to lose. And anyone that really knew me (and therefore mattered to me) already watched me struggle for years to control my weight the "right" way only to fail time and time again. I'd say keep it to your intimate circle for now. It's exciting news and we're tempted to share. But the reality is that too many people think that knowing about your surgery gives them a pass to offer opinions and judgment, as opposed to their support. And really, nobody wants fifty different people asking them each week how much they've lost or to babysit how much they're eating during the loss phase. Good luck. Everyone encounters this choice, you'll have to do what you're most comfortable doing. ~Cheri

I can't speak to shifting with Mirena being solely due to weight loss, but mine did fall out. I can say (from experience) that the hormones in Mirena can cause issues with loss post VSG. There are a few old threads about this if you do a search. I had to have mine removed. I used it solely to control endometriosis because surprise pregnancies aren't in the cards for us. Mine fell out while I was in the loss phase. I had it placed again a few weeks later. The only time I lost weight during that time frame was when the Mirena was out of my body! Now, many people use it and love it. In fact, I loved mine - nothing has ever worked better at controlling the endo. But it was definitely causing problems after my WLS, so keep that in mind IF you notice something isn't quite the same or working as well. That said, I think that applies to all hormonal birth control. You'll find even more threads about this. Some women have no issues and some of us have real reactions to things that worked well previously. Just be aware of it and be prepared to address it if it comes up. In any case, my post isn't to scare anyone or worry anyone needlessly. The fact is, it's better to directly ask your doctor about potential issues than to risk an unwanted or unplanned pregnancy that will cause you stress and unhappiness. ~Cheri

Ladies - I'm seeing that a huge percentage of our pregnant ladies are ones that were using the IUD as their primary form of birth control. But what I haven't seen is someone taking the time to say, "Hey, this is a possible issue and be aware of it BEFORE surgery." The IUD can shift and/or fall out with a drastic change in weight. I wish more surgeons were discussing this possibility with their patients, because I'm getting the feeling that they aren't always doing so and that many women are unaware that this can happen. Please be sure to address your choice of the IUD with your doctor so that you can decide if it's the right choice for you while you're in the initial loss phase. I've seen a large number of surprise pregnancies lately and almost every one of them was an IUD user. We all love babies, but it's nice to be more in control of the process and not be surprised with a pregnancy while eating a drastically reduced diet and learning your sleeve. And the early months are emotional enough without complicating matters. So, just my official suggestion that even if your surgeon or PCP does not bring this up (and particularly if you're self-pay and won't be seeing a regular team of doctors) that you bring it up yourself if you're currently using this type of birth control and not trying to get pregnant. ~Cheri

It's up to your sleeve, really, but I'm more than two years out and still can't eat iceberg. It just doesn't go down well and causes discomfort. I eat salads that are veggie based or I use romaine (when I can find it here) or spinach for my salads. Go slow with lettuce. This is another food like bread, rice, Pasta, etc. that might seem like it's sitting well but you can go from enjoying your meal to discomfort in one small bite. And definitely wait at least two months to start trying - you want that sleeve to heal and any "roughage" food should be avoided during the beginning period. I couldn't eat lettuce or spinach until some time late in the first year. Other fibrous veggies were fine by around six months post op. And a portion will be whatever you can fit in without discomfort! I go easy on salads made with lettuce and would say that it's far less than even half a cup for me to feel satisfied without discomfort. I can eat a greater portion of salads where lettuce isn't the base (1/2 cup) and where I live that's more common anyway. ~Cheri

I also did it - I've been a lifelong insomniac and found that I'd eat an entire meal in the evenings, usually sometime around midnight. Even on nights when I could sleep I might wake up hungry halfway through the night, which always struck me as completely bizarre. I started curbing it early out when food wasn't appealing. Nowadays I try something protein/dairy before bed and it tides me over. I'll do string cheese, or a handful of nuts, a hard boiled egg, or maybe an extra Protein shake, whatever it takes. I now eat a protein snack before heading to bed. I am careful not to snack in bed and I only allow myself to drink Water at night but I admit that even with a sleeve there are times (especially during my cycle) when I have to resist the urge to eat a late meal. I've also found that my insomnia is far better now that I've lost weight. I cannot even begin to guess at why because I was an insomniac as a skinny child. But maybe I'm more active now or I'm just sleeping more soundly. Whatever the reason, I only have occasional bouts of insomnia these days. I had a real problem immediately post op and found that it got much better when I cut/curbed my artificial sweetener use. Good luck - and thanks to the posters that linked to this disorder. This is something I've always done, that my mother does and that my younger sister does, too. I had no idea that it was common and always figured it was simply a behavior I learned from my family, but it's interesting to know that it might be part of a larger issue. ~Cheri

Honestly? Everyone's body reacts differently but you're probably starved for carbs and energy, hence the compulsion to eat afterward. If anything, I'd say the sodium in the crackers is the culprit, not the carbs. That said, I urge you to work moderation in slowly before reaching goal. Everyone approaches their sleeve differently and it's important to understand that we're not all the same and our bodies react differently. That said, waiting to learn how to eat more normally once you're at goal results in regains and trouble maintaining for a lot of people. I would do an experiment. Track your food. Incorporate more and more good quality carbs (I'm not taking Cookies and cakes, here) and see if it negatively impacts your loss. Counter higher sodium treats like crackers or popcorn with extra Water that day. I am willing to bet that you can probably at least double your carb intake (maybe more) without sabotaging your loss. In turn, I think this will help you be better prepared for life at goal. I've read in so many places that men do well on Atkins and extremely low carbs but women do best on a more balanced diet and experience a lot of issues when they low carb it too long. For me, crankiness is a definite issue but I also have hypersensitivity to carbs and if I avoid them too long my sugars skyrocket once I eat them AND they stimulate the urge to binge. I eat about 40% Protein, 30% carbs and 30% fat and never feel deprived and it didn't cause me to lose any slower than I was losing on 20 grams a day. Just my opinion, of course. For what it's worth, when I eat popcorn I see a bump up on the scale the next day every single time. I know it's the sodium and I increase my water so that it falls off by the day after. Good luck! Remember that it's a learning process and that it takes time to learn how/what to eat for ideal results. ~Cheri

In a few days you'll forget this phase. At this point I was restricted to clears and like you (like almost everyone!) was having trouble getting enough liquids down. Sip all day long. If cold drinks bother you or take longer to drink, move to room temp or warm beverages. The only unjury product I liked was the chicken Soup, but if you don't have any of that just spice up some chicken broth and sip that, too. Focus on hydration and liquids and worry about Protein later, once you're more healed. Take it easy, and congrats on your new sleeve, ~Cheri

First of all, you CAN stop eating those sweets. It's hard and sometimes you'll go crazy knowing they're around but you really are in control of this behavior, even when you feel like you're not. The desire to eat you can't control yet, but the acting on it? You can stop that. First I'd check out the recent thread on binge eating. There's a lot of info there on emotional/binge/overeating and it's always good to know that you are not alone with this struggle. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/63618-if-you-were-a-binge-eater-before/ I posted there about how I overcame my own habits and the process I used to do it. It worked for me and might be worth considering. I "stumbled" twice on my journey. Essentially, I hit two nine week stalls. And both times, about four weeks into that stall I got a "what the hell" attitude and ate what I wanted. I never did experience a gain (luckily) but I am sure my stall went on because it took me a while to focus on kicking the habit. None of us had great eating habits prior to the sleeve or we probably wouldn't have opted for this surgery. It takes time and real effort to recognize the why behind those behaviors and then to break the ingrained habits. Your caloric intake is going to be the amount of calories you can eat in a day without slowing or stopping your loss. For me that was much lower than most - I think I did best on 700-900 calories a day until maintenance. Some gals can eat double that and lose fine. The best thing to do is track your intake (every single bite, even half a cookie!) and follow your body's patterns. If you incorporate more good quality carbs into your diet you might gain a sense of control over the desire to graze on sweets, though. Good luck. We're all here to help. I, personally, overcame this obstacle and feel confident that you can, too, if you work on it. ~Cheri

It's a long learning process complicated by the fact that certain foods will bother you at certain times and go down easily at different times. I had to re-learn my capacity (with lots of tossing up food) when I got pregnant. I felt like I had more room and sure, I do, but that means ten bites of steak instead of six...not fifteen bites. Certain foods make this harder - if bread, Pasta, rice or flour tortillas are involved they swell once they hit the stomach. For me, I can go from perfectly fine to discomfort in just one small bite. So always watch those foods until you learn your limits. Don't be so hard on yourself. I was a fast eater that took big bites for nearly 30 years prior to surgery. I didn't just unlearn that habit in only a few weeks! You'll get there. I'd say lesson learned but sometimes it takes a while. ~Cheri

I see VST less as someone's personal cheerleader and more as a place to share information, ideas and strategies on life with a gastric sleeve. It's a forum full of strangers from across the globe and I cannot expect everyone here to think and act the way I might. I don't know, but as an adult I suppose I'm just used to dealing with both nice and not so nice people, with people that are blunt and with people that are delicate, and with people that take everything very personally and with people that let things roll of their backs. It's part of life. In the real world, I interact with those people just fine without the need for someone else to back me up or intervene. I think what frustrates many people isn't that people don't search out old searches (though many people never bother to search at all), it's that on any given day you can find four active threads about the same exact topic in a forum. Most often, I simply ignore these repeats, but yes, seeing the same questions and information (and sometimes misinformation) being continually revived gets annoying. I think what frustrates people here the most is that those of us that don't need to be here come back to help. We want to share our experience and we genuinely want to see people succeed. Finding repeated posts from people that simply want validation for what they know are poor choices gets aggravating and I'm sure you'll understand that once you've been here a while. This isn't kindergarten where we need a moderator to separate us into opposite corners because we disagree on occasion. We're all adults here, right? It's very easy to simply ignore someone that posts something you don't like or don't agree with and to avoid posts where you know that particular member has been active. Oh, and I'm not only a meanie, I'm a hormonal pregnant woman. ~Cheri

I sincerely doubt your diet is the culprit as you are almost assuredly eating far less than you did prior to surgery. Some people really do just lose more slowly. You can fiddle with your diet if you need to feel more in control of the situation. Counter to what you'd likely think, if anything, it's more likely you need to increase calories/carbs to jump start yourself. At that point post op I was struggling to consume 400-500 calories and 60 grams of Protein a day. At some point around four months I was struggling mentally and started to incorporate more calories, carbs and protein. I started with additional shakes because that was easiest for me. I noticed no increase in the rate of my loss, but mentally I felt much better. I had more energy and did feel less deprived and more in control of my diet. I lost 107 pounds over the course of 17 months, with two 9 week stalls along the way. I lost at a rate of just over 6 pounds per month. Prior to surgery the only stories that stood out in my mind were swift losses and I was certain that I'd get to goal in roughly nine months. The fact of the matter is that I lost slowly and nothing I did changed my body's pace. I am no less a success story for reaching goal more slowly. In fact, I maintained my weight (prior to my current pregnancy) with very little effort and reached goal happy and healthy both physically and mentally. Nobody wants to hear it but the real truth is that you cannot control how your body loses. There is a reason for many of us having years of failure on various diets before we choose surgery as an option. I could not have reached goal without my sleeve. Try to focus on the fact that every pound you lose is one gone forever, and be grateful that you've chosen this surgery that will make your goal achievable. The 1,200 one-size-fits-all diet and expectation to lose two or more pounds a week does not apply to many of us. If it did, we would have reached goal our first round of Weight Watchers and kept our stomachs! Good luck, and try to stay positive. I won't offer up a sample menu as you'll see plenty of them and could search them out in any case. Many, many of us lose more slowly. If you search these boards you'll find that you are not alone and that there is really no need to get so frustrated over a time goal. Focus less on how quickly you'll lose the weight and more on building the foundation you need to stay at goal once you achieve it. ~Cheri

Yeah, that's pretty much every single experience I've had in the last twelve years with a stateside doctor. No joke. I get so frustrated with people that tell me it's not the norm...well, in my world, it really is. I've had to fight tooth and nail for some of the dumbest things - like a referral to get some physical therapy after I'd broken my leg in five places. My doctor wanted me to lose fifty pounds first! Um, how am I going to exercise and lose fifty pounds if I can't get out of bed without walking like Frankenstein?! I had the same doctor refer me to a dietitian FOUR times in a two year period because it was easier than just believing me when I said I was having trouble losing weight. You're lucky if you can find a new doctor. In Tricare, it's incredibly difficult to change PCPs if you're using a military hospital and if you do, the old doc will hand over your file along with tales of how difficult you are so that your new doc has a bias before even seeing you. It's happened to me twice. In my experience, this is much like any other service field. With a surplus of customers with no choice on where to go and a guaranteed payment from the insurance company, there's a decline in quality of service. ~Cheri

It resolved a lot between one and two years post op. I was able to eat everything but ice cream, which still caused a lot of problems. If I was reasonable about portions of dairy in a day I could even incorporate a small amount of milk, yogurt or cottage cheese. I just had to keep in mind that I couldn't have a lot of dairy at all meals - I could only do it one or two meals a day. Now that I'm pregnant, the intolerance is back full force and I cannot drink milk, eat yogurt, or even use butter on some days! I get nauseated and if I overdo it I experience gas, bloating and intestinal distress. I have no idea how things will be once the baby arrives. My intolerance first made itself known during my twin pregnancy and afterward because just a mild nuisance that bothered me once in a while. I'm hoping for the same outcome this time. ~Cheri

Yes, a doctor and some blood tests are probably all that can help. It's not unheard of for people to develop an allergy later in life, but I haven't heard of your specific reaction after VSG. I know that my lactose intolerance got much, much worse immediately post op (it went from a nuisance that bothered me once in a while to an outright inability to consume any dairy for several months) but your reaction is much more serious than that. My friend developed a seafood allergy late in life and I've heard of people developing serious reactions to artificial sweeteners all of a sudden, after years of using them with no issues. After my twin pregnancy, I developed an allergy to sulfites. Just all of a sudden, one evening at dinner, a favorite wine caused hives, swelling in my throat and trouble breathing. It was easy to pinpoint the cause and a trip to the doctor confirmed what we suspected. Good luck and be careful until you do get into a doctor. ~Cheri

I mix with Water, coffee or tea. I tried samples of almost all the fruit flavors (got mine on Vitalady's site) and hated every one. I was surprised but my tastes have changed. I like vanilla, chocolate and cappuccino, as well as the unflavored. I mix two scoops into 10-12 oz. of liquid and get my Protein boost in that way. I still don't like to eat Breakfast and I like to keep my protein high (90+ grams a day) because I feel better with higher protein. I'm more than two years out and of all the many Proteins I've tried this is my favorite brand. ~Cheri

I would have told everyone but my husband is a very private person and prefers not to share things like that. Add in an ex-wife that tries to count our pennies for us so she can get more out of us, and I can kind of understand. I told my family because I tell them everything. Now that I'm so much farther out from surgery most people do know but his parents still do not. It's fine with me but seems silly at times because it's obvious I lost a great deal of weight and it's obvious I cannot eat much any more. But with time anything can become normal, so to them this is just normal Cheri behavior now. It's up to you. I see posts all the time where people regret telling people outside their intimate circle of friends and family, because knowing does tend to make people think they have license to criticize, offer unwanted opinions and babysit your eating habits as well as your progress. It's nice to have cheerleaders but not so nice to have a team of people micromanaging your weight loss surgery. Good luck, ~Cheri

The Ahi Carpaccio is the only thing I ever eat at Cheesecake Factory anymore. If you only use a tiny bit of the sauce, it's a serious Protein meal and tastes fantastic. The sauce has mega sodium, of course. I was so disappointed to eat there when I was back in the states over the summer because I'm pregnant and supposed to avoid uncooked fish. I had to find something else to eat, and while there were dozens of other options it wasn't the flavor explosion of the dish I usually order. Online menus are my best friend post VSG. I almost always have an idea of what I'll order before we hit a restaurant these days, which definitely makes things less frustrating when you're on a more limited diet in the beginning. ~Cheri

My situation is different as I had a frozen embryo transfer. Basically, I was on hormone injections for nearly four months. I gained about ten pounds right off the bat. Since that point I've slowly put on another ten pounds. Some months I see the doctor and I'm up three or four pounds and the next month I'll go back and I'm down three or four pounds. If you're not on a PPI get back on one. I felt like I was hungry all the time but I needed to be back on my omeprazole, which I hadn't been taking since about 6 months post op. As soon as I was back on one the "I'm starving" feeling went away immediately. The reality here is that you need to eat and you are going to gain weight. I think it's normal for us to worry about weight because we're all scared we'll be fat again some day. But your sleeve is still there. The progesterone your body is producing is relaxing your stomach and making it possible for you to eat larger quantities. But be real with yourself: are you eating out of control or are you just eating more than you're used to eating? If you stick to the basics as best you can: Protein first, good quality carbs and veggies and good fats, you'll find that it's still not easy to eat a large meal. After baby is safely here, you can lose this weight again. There is no reason to think that your sleeve will stop working - it's going to be the same size it was prior to pregnancy. Just like we cannot predict how we'll lose weight post op because we're all individual, it's much the same way with pregnancy gains. Some ladies gain almost nothing. Prior to VSG I gained a ton of weight with both of my pregnancies (97 pounds and 80 something pounds) but this time around I can reasonably expect to gain forty pounds or less. And I have zero doubt that what weight is still around six weeks post delivery will fall off slowly but surely as I return to my normal diet. Don't fret. Eat. Stay off the scale if it's making you crazy. ~Cheri

My family didn't have surgery, I did, so what they eat doesn't bother me unless I see someone eat far too much food. It kinda grosses me out at that point, but nobody in my immediate family does it. My good habits have rubbed off on them over time and they eat better than they ever have before. I do things a number of different ways depending on where we're going and how many people I'm eating with. If it's just my two kids and my husband, we usually order a salad or appetizer to share around and the four of us might share two Entrees. I'm surprised at how often we still have leftovers doing this. If we're going in a big group we usually order several salads and appetizers to share around and I simply eat what few bites I'd like from each dish. If I'm not in company where I'd do that, I'll order my own food. Sometimes soup, sometimes soup and salad, sometimes an entree where I'll end up taking 1/2 to 2/3 of the dish home. I'm at the point where I still can't finish a bowl of soup and a half sandwich and it seems like I never will again. That's fine, I have no issues taking home leftovers to eat later or the next day. The days where I'm living my life focused on what other people are eating or on what I don't eat are over. Food is enjoyable, sure, but a meal out is more about enjoying the company of the folks I'm with than anything else. ~Cheri

I think that tastes/textures aside it's perfectly normal not to enjoy food at this point. I didn't have my first "Wow, that was truly wonderful" meal until close to a year out, or maybe past it. I enjoy food now but for a long time eating was not enjoyable at all - it was a chore and something I did because I wanted to hit nutritional goals. And I'll be honest - I think that having the sleeve and focusing on better quality foods helps us realize that most of what people shovel in and moan about is sub-par food! I really focus on quality ingredients and can absolutely tell when a vegetable isn't at it's freshest, or if it wasn't washed enough. I'm more sensitive to what seasonings, spices and additives are in my food. And more often than not, when eating out especially, these things can ruin the experience for me. I was already a cook/baker but now I won't even buy bread. I prefer to make my own. I can actually TASTE the artificiality of those products on the supermarket shelf. Is that really a bad thing? In any case, you should be able to get over most of your aversions as you eat a more balanced diet later on. Some things stay and I can honestly say that most of my previous trigger foods don't hold power over me any longer. It's a trade off I'm happy to make. And yes, I do enjoy eating again. I still don't find that I ooh and aah over my food (outside of my own home) very often but it does happen now and again. I enjoy that my relationship with food is mostly take it or leave it, actually. It makes avoiding those poor habits that made me obese in the first place much easier. Good luck! If a food turns you off now, try it again later on and see how it goes. ~Cheri

Excess skin is almost entirely up to genetics. With more than 50 pounds to lose your odds of loose skin go up. Do you have stretch marks from previous ups/downs on the scale? Then odds are good you will experience loose skin to some extent. Exercise minimizes this, as does losing at a slower pace. That said, loose skin is something just about everyone experiences to some extent after losing a serious amount of weight. I lost 107 pounds quite slowly - it took me seventeen months. Prior to VSG I knew I'd have loose skin but didn't think it would bother me much. I have twins and already had a loose apron from that, and knew it would likely get worse. At one year post op the loose skin bothered me quite a bit. I didn't like the way I looked with my clothes off, but in my clothes nobody could tell I had loose skin at all. However, at some point between one and two years post op, the majority of my skin rebounded. At one year out I might have felt I needed plastics on my arms, stomach, breasts, thighs, buttocks and even my calves. At two years out the only things I'd do would be my stomach and my breasts. The rest adjusted to the point where surgery is completely unnecessary. Furthermore, in my shapewear (I hate Spanx but love high quality retro undergarments), I actually get compliments from other women on how trim my middle is and how I have such a gorgeous shape. It is not obvious that I have loose skin at all. And I no longer feel any upset or disgust when I see myself with my clothes off. My loose skin rebounded A LOT. As for insurance, I prefer to do things my way, without jumping through stupid hoops. Tricare (our insurance) is a royal PITA anyway, so I would rather pay more, self pay and get it done by a surgeon I trust and have researched than wind up with some guy practicing plastics in a military hospital. So for me, this isn't an issue. I knew that plastics would be expensive but I'd like to have the skin removed. Mostly because I'm vain. Because at this point, more than two years out, the only person that has any issues with my skin is me. My husband could care less and nobody else sees it. ~Cheri

I'm a serious cook/baker. It's what I do and what I enjoy. In my opinion, it was unfair to my family (at the time after surgery I had two year old twins and my hubs to cook for; the stepkids weren't visiting) to put them on a diet of Soup for three weeks because I opted for surgery. The way I got around this was to prepare a number of meals in advance that were easy to freeze/store so that I could feed them without spending my time on my feet in the kitchen. By the time I was onto soft foods, I would prepare one meal and about half of the time I'd cater the meal to my needs by adding in a soft element I could enjoy, too. The rest of the time, I'd eat whatever I had planned or already made for myself while they ate the usual meal. It took me a while to learn that I didn't need to make as much food for our family. Even now I need to remember that whatever meal I make is likely to feed us two or three times. As for whether or not you choose to eat at the table with them, it's your decision. I was not bothered by my family eating. At the worst times, I felt frustrated that I couldn't eat more, but seeing them eat did not bother me. Over time, my husband has scaled down his portion size and how he eats to more closely match my eating habits. He was never overweight to begin with but feels healthier and did shed about ten pounds over the course of two years by doing this. I chose to have surgery when my husband was perfectly happy with the way I looked and when I only had one complication from my weight (type 2 diabetes), so expecting them to change their lives totally because of what was mostly my vanity seemed unfair to me. Then again, my husband was/is very considerate and never did things like scarf junk food or order a late night pizza in front of me. Now we live a normal life and normal food is a part of that. The job to stay away from junk is mine, not his. I had to learn moderation and how to control myself around food and that means that if he wants to occasionally indulge and have a few Oreos once in a while, it's my job to stay out of the bag while they're in the house. It takes time and practice to get to this point, though. Do what you're comfortable with and try to encourage your family to respect your new lifestyle while at the same time respecting that they didn't choose to have surgery with you. That will keep everyone happiest while you learn new eating habits. ~Cheri