RJ'S/beginning

It will go away...you are healing..cleaning, bending and lifting will only prolong the pain...this is the time to allow yourself to heal..Be good to yourself...there is a lot of pulling going on in there as everything is connected even after surgery......don't get upset, consider this a time to look after you and learn patients eh..You still have a long journey ahead of you....you have time to look after yourself until you heal.. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not a professional of your caliber by any means...but in the past when I was employed bosses saw me as mostly not worth any time or chance.... I never got further then the average bear.....Once I worked for a grocery chain and cooked food sausages to be exact for demonstration..I was good at it and sold everything I had first before anyone else.. The 2 managers came over to me and looked me up and down and moved out of what they thought was ear shot and said that I was good at what I did but that I did not fit the profile of someone who should even be eating that type of food.... I let them say what they wanted and they let me finish out the day..That night I got a phone call telling me that my services were no longer needed... I am a worker and a diligent person and Blondie that was almost beside me couldn't find her way out of a paper bag..They kept her and she was as dumb as a rock...All because I did not fit their bill........ That was when I turned to comedy to lesson the blows if someone were to notice how big I was.. A lot of scars through the years but not enough to get me thin where everyone expected me to be.........and now it is so ironic that some think I am too small...blows my mind!!!!!!!!!!!!

I totally agree with what you say here...just out with it already and make yourself feel better. it has always been at the obese persons expense. they just kept their thoughts to themselves or talked about it as fauder over dinner..... I think it is funny a little....me causing someone to be uncomfortable with themselves...hard to believe...I used to be a comedian every where I went and entertained groups of people at Doctors offices or anywhere where I had to spend time in a waiting room..I would get everyone laughing so hard that they would forget why they were there..It became an art form.... Why to keep their minds off of what they saw before them...Me!!!!!!!!! After everything that has happened and the price I have paid for this...i owe nothing to them...no joking, no laughing, no comic relief....just me now..being like everyone else and staying quiet waiting for my turn at an appointment...Sure it was more fun getting people worked up and I got a kick out of it a lot of times...But now..........................I am just like everyone else.... No one knows me and I don't stand out as obese ( I hate that word ).. So I don't work as hard to cover it up like I used to.. It is kinda sad and refreshing at the same time you know!!!!!!!

I know for sure that if you don't say that you are a food addict out loud or to yourself..you will never deal with it enough to make a huge difference in your life.....Sure an alcoholic does not have to worry about a beer being placed in front of him like we do food...that makes it even more work for us to be able to make choices, the right choices for our future selves....that said..We will slip because we face food every day and we are not perfect..not at all..It is getting back up and riding that horse after the fall that..The first year is all the learning curves and what do I do here and what do I do there..And just when you got it figured out...bang....another issue..There are no bed of roses here..work work and more work.....forever from the start to the end! I bought the book and looking forward to reading it as well...Have ordered a few books off here as recommended by users....

I think I will order that book myself..Thanks for the tip... I really believe that fighting the demon of food addiction will be a life long struggle. That we can never let our guard down over it..It will creep up on us periodically..and we will have to face it with our brains to fix each little facet of it......Life long struggle I think as this has been a life long problem for us to live with..... Like once an alcoholic always an alcoholic you know!

I have been told that up to 6 months it is a possibility....mine I was sleeved on Nov. 6th 2012 and on Nov.12th I was rushed to the hospital with a major leak leak that went septic....After I was rushed into surgery I was put into an induced coma and was there for 19 days..After that 13 surgeries followed and rehab..Which included me learning to walk again, talk again, eat again, write again and just about every thing else...I lost my singing voice and I have a numbness in my hand as a result of what I went through... I got a category 5 bed sore and had to have medical attention for that up until a couple months ago..i now face pneumonia..and dislocated 3 ribs due to 5 months in bed in the hospital... I didn't eat for 5 1/2 months and the complications are still rearing their ugly heads...I face a new surgery soon, as now I am having trouble with my insides ( girl parts )..It never ends..... Over view of what I have been dealing with......Down 182 lbs though..That's the good news!!!!!!

I have tried to message you but can't seem to get it..They keep sending it to another all lower case letters!

I concur...This won't happen though..She said this when I was 30 lbs heavier then I am now too!!!!!!!!!!

I always got...you have a pretty face..And then in my head I would say..to bad about the body eh..But felt I had no right to respond.....

It has happened again......A lady told one of my friends that I was too thin and needed to stop this insanity before I had to go to a special clinic for people with eating disorders....What???????? No one ever told me that they were worried about my health or anything else when I was obese...( hate that word ), part may be because how do you bring it up or talk to someone about it..but still...People are having no problem telling me or my family that I am too small... I don't think I was ever too small in my life...I don't think there is a chance of it happening any time soon..... This lady was complaining that her size 16 pants were getting too tight...My friend told her that in a couple weeks she could have mine as I seem to change sizes so fast... She laughed her head off..That's when this woman said I was way to thin for my height...hello..198 is not thin...dah!!!!!!!!!

LOL..You made me laugh!!!!! Skim milk eh!!! I wonder if we could just bathe in it......would that help? No just kidding...If it works....that would be amazing!

Exactly GG

Personally I think you were craving them and probably for a good reason..Your body needed the Iron, and Fiber, and whatever Vitamins there in.... Try to add some veggies in there as a regular part of your diet....they are good for you too..... This is a personal opinion......Always go with your surgeons recommendations first and foremost!

Thanks for the info..Will send it on!

I showed my hubby the thread last night and said look no one seems to understand why you go after my food like a starving animal......His response....come on guys I'm working on it..And then he threw his head back and laughed!!!!!!!!!! Yup he took it hard folks!

Interesting. Do you think that's his way of food policing ? Nope, I think that he looks at it as seconds without effort....He has always been very careful to make sure the kids had enough to eat..He would leave a piece of steak a lone just in case my 6'8" son might need it....It is a new thing for him to see food like this... I think that he feels that I am not going to eat it anyway so get it while it's hot sorta thinking.....He has asked me to order normal portions and take the rest home for his lunch the next day...Well that has only happened a few times....

What I am working on right now is learning to like myself as I go through each and every step of this journey...To say to myself this was a good thing to do and I will be much more active and healthier for it.... Also learning to forgive myself for allowing things to get so bad that I had to reach out for emergency help... To be grateful for the wonderful miracle of WLS for those of us that have exhausted all other avenues...And count success not only by the scale but by the personal growth I have made within my self during this experience.... Each change we make makes us stronger in our resolve to go forward...To continuously check the brain and what it is trying to do to cause me to take risks and not follow through with exploring the real issues that got me to this place in my life.... These things are what I want to become habits so that I can stop going back and forth, and up and down over the same self destructive thinking.... I want to feel like I got this...Working on that one as well....

I can add to this thread by saying that no matter how prepared you are or think you are you will come across situations and feelings and thoughts that you never thought possible...all the things that you hoped would be accomplished with this tool will cause you frustration and anxiety, happiness and fear...fear of both succeeding and failing..Fear of who you were and who you will become..etc... The best thing to do at the beginning is stay close to your surgeon and nuts program and ask as many questions as you can on here or anyone you trust....( Those who have been where you are! ) Which is most of us here... This is not a simple calorie counting diet. This is a program that will be with you the rest of your life...If you commit to it most likely you will be happier, healthier and the person that you hid inside will come out and shine..... It will be worth all the struggles and if you are one of the fortunate ones you will see your goal..That is where the work begins...... I can't think of anything I personally have done in my life that has taken this much time, effort and energy to accomplish..I am still not there, and will never be there..I am a work in progress like a painting ( one stroke at a time ) Is it worth it? Well yes!!!!!!!!!

I ate totally clean today....feel like a fresh start for this program of life......hehehehe

gmanbat..I don't think they make hamburgers that look like the one I tore apart today....100 % pure beef, no fillers, the only thing missing was a fresh piece of tomato.... You should have seen him eating his lunch ( fish chowder ) and reaching over at the same time eating fries by the handful...I wasn't going to eat them anyway but come on.............I asked him if he was starving and he said yup!!!!!!!!! I said don't forget the cold slaw and he said no..I think I have had enough thanks.....tooooooooo much! Case closed....I will never win this one!

yup feelin pretty fly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lol

My hubby reached over the table today at lunch and took half my burger..lean and mean...Ate all the french fries and then asked if I were done.....I told him that if I hadn't been he would have gotten a fork in the hand.... I have tried everything to stop him from doing that until I am done....Maybe even the threat of violence won't work..I don't know..... I try so hard not to react!!!!!! A lot of times he says oh you weren't done with that eh? I just look at him as he continues to stuff whatever in his mouth....whatever I guess!!!!!!!!!!

I think your amazing to tell us how you are dealing with things...the fact that you are going to reflect is also amazing.....you have a good hold of the change you see you need to make.....see how you can learn from these little threads....Good luck with your new desire to change!!!!!

Thanks everyone....went today and got some size 14 jeans...2 weeks ago I bought size 16 was so excited then...almost in the 14's... It is hard for me to fathom that I had 182 lbs. on my back for so many years..My legs were strong..but my back gave out...... Sure gives me a boost to get going again and get the rest done and out of the way.....yip pee!!!!!!!!

Onederland is when you finally make it to the 100's and something....like 199.9 is onederland!