NinaX

My advice to you is STAY OFF THE SCALE. Put it away if you have to. Do not hover on it. Weigh yourself once a week and that is all.
The scale can drive you absolutely bat shit insane. There is an "infamous" 3 -6 week stall that seems to hit many sleevers and if you are obsessing about it when that stall hits you could literally go nuts.
Follow your diet, get exercise, stay confident, and HIDE THE SCALE!

I guess its a matter of opinion, and perspective.
I've not cheated, BUT I have had some easter egg chocolate, I had the sleeve because it allows me most things in moderation sould I want them.
For the first time in 12 years my husband bought me an easter egg, so last night we shared it, I enjoyed what I had, but don't have a burning desire for any more, and yes this time last year I would have bought dozens of eggs for my kids because I'd have eaten loads in the run up to easter, and then had to replace them all!!
Did I cheat? I don't think so. Will I get to goal in record time by allowing myself a little slack occasionally? Probbly not. Do I feel guilty? Hell No!!!
Look at the distance we have all travelled in order to be able to approach something like easter with moderation, it is fantastic, so don't beat yourself up for living a little, relax, enjoy, move on.
Happy easter.
xx

I did this: I called a lady in Mexicali Mexico who made an appointment for me to come to a Mexican Hospital I had never seen, by myself, and get my stomach cut out under anesthesia and then I came home and I am still not dead.
I still can't quite get my head around my behavior. I spent from about January to March mulling it over but I can't say I really researched it. I didn't have insurance and was not going to get any and I was so fat, and I was truly at the end of something, some rope, some road.
My normal non-desperate self is, first of all, terrified to fly. I was just recently married to someone who was very keen on outlining how Mexico was falling apart and becoming an anarchic apocalyptic state. I am the woman who spends money on everybody else and not herself because frankly what difference does it make in the end? We all end up in pineboxes feeding the ecosystem, right? So who cares if you're fat, you're just an average human borg-ant marching around, what kind of hideous, vain, self-centered, irresponsible, recklesss, banana are you anyway?
So what I sort of had to do is not let the woman in the previous paragraph know what I was doing. I had to just shut the whole system down, all of it, anything and anyone who was going to tell me not to do it. This included: my family, the insurance borg, my ex-husband, and the rest of patriarchy and my own neurotic fear-stricken personality. I had to sneak around behind my own back. Because you know what the neurotic parts of your personality do with a thing like this. Hellfire. Volcanoes exploding. A crater appears in the hospital bed where you used to be. Your legs *fall off*. Etc.
I knew I wasn't gonna die. Everybody: you are not going to die. Fine, this is the most momentous, earthshattering medical decision you have probably ever made, but look on the other side of the operating table: the guy who is going to cut you open is *not* afraid you're going to die. He would not be doing it if he thought you were going to die, just from the malpractice alone it's a bad idea to kill people.
And I finally figured -- life is just not that easy. If I developed later complications no way in hell was I going to get off with just a checkout card from God, no way, I'd get *saved* and then be harnessed with a trillion dollar medical bill I'd running from for the rest of my life. And I also at one point looked all of this right in its smarmy, ratty little face and thought, can it really be worse than everything I've been through in the past five years? I think not.
It's almost three weeks later and I am still amazed at myself. I am not sure if I was desperate or if I was finished or if I just wanted a vacation or what. But I really did this. It was almost like I was doing something I had forgotten to do years ago. Reorganize the hall closet. Reallocate the 401K. Steamclean the couch. Get your stomach cut out.
One more week and I'll be a full human again who can eat food and order in restaurants. What a strange, strange, little known fact about myself.

I think it is important to remember that the different post-op diets we are given for the first 4-6 weeks are NOT aimed at loosing weight, their sole puropse is the allow the stomach to heal and to give it a smooth start again after the surgery.
You will gain weight from the IV fluids, some bodies will be in chock after surgery and therefore hold on to weight or even gain. In a perfect world, none of us would step onto the scales at all for the first 4-5 weeks, so much stress would be avoided. :-)
The weight will come off, give it time and stick to your doctors plan to let your stomach and the rest of your body catch up.
Best wishes and good luck!

As the surgeon cut and staple very close to the upper orifice, there will be some swelling in the area. This can cause pain and uncomfort for the first couple of weeks. For me it easied up during week 3. The trick is to chew a lot, take small bites and eat extremely slowly. Best wishes and good luck!

Hi,
I can understand your worry of becoming the centre of gossip. I always find it amazing that people think it's their business what I eat, how I look, weight etc and have found that answering questions with a question is an effective weapon;
- Why do you want to know?
- Doesn't my food look tasty?
-Don't you think I look healthy?
-Are you curious about weightloss because you feel you need to /know someone else who need to loose weight?
Etc. etc.... turning it around to the person with a question ususally makes them surprised and then drop the subject.
Best wished and good luck!

My husband had the attitude that "all you have to eat less and exercise more, why do you need surgery to loose weight?"
I don't!!!
I have stopped calling my sleeve a "weight loss surgery", it's not for me. What I needed and what I feel I've got is a "weight maintenance surgery"
I've lost weight loads of times, no problem, never managed to maintain it however. My goal with this surgery is to have the tool to remind me to eat like a normal weight person once I shifted the overweight once and for all!
I got some statistics (showing successrates with people on diet/exercise regims versus people who had surgery) from my surgeons office which I showed my husband. It gave him an understanding of how difficult it is to loose the weight once you've yo-yo dieted loads of times and your body is struggling against you.
Good luck and best wishes!

I wouldn't call it cheating, but I moved from liquids to mushie food earlier than program stated. However, I did this after getting ok from dietician. As I recovered extremely quickly and felt great she was happy for me to move on to something which got my stomach working out again. My plan stated liquid diet (yoghurts, Soups etc) for 10-14 days and I moved to pureed food on day 7.
I would suggest you speak to your surgeons office to get personal advice. They give general guidelines to fit everybody, but in most cases it is very individual depending on how you recover, how you feel etc.
Good luck!

Yep, 1st November is my date (done in Stockholm, Sweden where I live). Curious about this drain you mention? I have not heard or read about any drain for the op I'm having done?! Why and where is this placed? :confused1: