Geminidrive

Hi Karen,
Everything is generally better when you lose weight and I would think if you do have the surgery it probably would help with your breathing. If I recall correctly second stage COPD is a mild form, correct?

Hi Karen,
Everything is generally better when you lose weight and I would think if you do have the surgery it probably would help with your breathing. If I recall correctly second stage COPD is a mild form, correct?

One of my faves:
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” ~~ Mahatma Gandhi

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Thanks for sharing your story!

I always tell the straight out truth .... I don't care what anyone thinks . I'm proud of my sleeve. If they want to judge and say I cheated that's there problem not mine. I will never understand why people lie about getting the surgery , it's nothing to be ashamed of or is it something that I feel I have to hide simply because i dont want to hear negative comments. Just my opinion. I think people will talk more if they know you are lying, knowing that u lost so much weight in such a short amount of time .

You GO boy! Fist bump!!! Congrats!

Keep me updated... I am actually planning to take some French Cuisine cooking classes once I am further out.
Once I get on my laptop, I am going to have to add you as a friend!

Loving my decision to have sleeve surgery. No more huffing and puffing and I am eating much more healthier. I love the fact that I can get off my butt and start becoming more active again! I love the fact that I can tell others what this surgery has done for me so perhaps it can change their lives.
I love that I have lost 74lbs with more to go.
Thanks for starting this thread.

Loving my decision to have sleeve surgery. No more huffing and puffing and I am eating much more healthier. I love the fact that I can get off my butt and start becoming more active again! I love the fact that I can tell others what this surgery has done for me so perhaps it can change their lives.
I love that I have lost 74lbs with more to go.
Thanks for starting this thread.

TV and radio commercials don't make us fat. Failing to stop putting unhealthy foods in excess quantities in our mouths make us fat. If no commercials made you not fat, I would have been skinny because I don't watch television or listen to radio. I did, however, eat just about anything and everything whenever I wanted. Commercials didn't do that, I did.

Ok, you know I'm salivating over here just thinking about those foods. You just had thinking about the Thanksgiving dinners with homemade rolls with the butter painted on them......lord I could go on. Lol. Ok, back to the point I was going to make, you are going to love that book, it has been very insightful and helpful.

Some individuals do not know how to be tactful when trying to provide "constructive criticism".
Deedeemuffin I am glad to see that you stuck around. Vst really have some amazing people that are helpful and some that gives you that "tough love" without sounding so condescending... Proudgrammy comes to mind. So don't let one run it deter you from posting because sometime you just can't find what you are looking for.
Just always remember that everyone has an opinion and oftentimes what we desire to say does not come across that way when writing. Take what you can use and simply ignore those who live in the world of no mistakes since that person would be unable to relate.
On a lighter note, I will be purchasing the book and workbook: The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person by Judith Beck. Lol because The Lord knows that I still think like an obese person and just eating those small portion aaarrrggghhhh makes me mad! Lol no more barbeque with rice and Beans, potatoe salad, Mac n cheese, and Hawaiian rolls mmmm my mouth is salivating just think about my southern cooking. Lol

I just hate words like never an always and there are people on these forums that say they are never going to eat .... again.Then if they do they beat and berate themselves over it and if they post about it from what I have seen on this forum there are plenty of others that are willing to join in on the berating.I know I will follow my Doctor's order to the T in the beginning through all of the phases however I know I can't honestly say I will never or I will always anything.I feel I would be setting myself up for feelings of failure which is more dangerous to me than 1 bite of anything.

The site has really started to become less than helpful. When did fat people and ex fat people become so Judgemental? I'm out, don't think I'll be back because unlike some of the experts, and know it alls, and dummies that need the last word.......I have a life.

I am very grateful that I decided to have this surgery. I did no go through insurance ( I didn't want to do that drawn out process), but I busted my behind to save up the money to have it done in MX. I am thankful that my family are so supportive, attentive, and caring even with the distance in between us. I have my days when I am down because either I don't see the scale moving or I see a gain ( not sure if their is an association between my work/ sleep schedule). And I am also glad that a community exist such as this... people who are experiencing and going through similar things.

I totally agree. I don't think anyone means any harm in acknowledging the weight loss. What I would suggest for those who this bothers is to simply pull them aside and thank them for their support, but tell them that this makes you feel uncomfortable, otherwise it will continue and will annoy you.
For me it doesn't bother me when someone compliments me on my weight loss, if someone asks how much weight I tell them quite a bit, smile and keep on moving.

Honestly, if someone who really doesn't know me, has only seen me from a few posts on a message board, were to suggest I need therapy, I would be offended as well. Reason being, I think we all know what we are supposed to do when we get the sleeve. Unfortunately, they sleeved our tummies, not our brains. We didn't get to the point of needing weight loss surgery by having amazing willpower and the ability to just turn our heads and walk away from the things we know are bad for us. I could spend hours in therapy, but that isn't going to take away my cravings or turn me into a super human. I understand why I cheat, I don't need to pay someone to tell me why I eat. I eat because I genuinely enjoy the taste of crap food, I eat when I am depressed and I eat when I am happy. I know there are a million other ways I could deal with being depressed or happy, I know there are healthy choices that taste just as good. Nope, I don't need a therapist to tell me that. And yes, I worked in the mental health field for 13 years as well.
Sometimes, you just have to allow yourself to experience the emotions you are going to have. Sometimes, despite having the sleeve, you are going to eat something bad for you. The sleeve fixed my tummy, but all those old reasons I became fat are still there, and even after four years out, they still pop up. Sometimes, we just want to eat what we want to eat without feeling guilty. It's okay. We are human.
OP, did you get the sleeve to be normal, or to feel deprived for the rest of your life? I got mine to be normal. I had and continue to have no desire to be on a diet for the rest of my life. And, thanks to my sleeve, I don't have to be. What you have to learn is everything in moderation. A piece of bread is okay. But, it is important to remember that certain things, like bread and Pasta, swell up in your stomach after a bit. And, as you learned, that is really, really uncomfortable. For the newly sleeved especially, learning to eat again is a bit of a trial and error situation. You will learn as you go what your stomach can tolerate, what makes you miserable, etc. And you learned that four pieces of bread is going to result in a really, really miserable feeling. I doubt you will do that again. It is okay to enjoy the foods you love, so long as you do it in moderation and make healthy choices the majority of the time. It is all about learning balance. I am confident you learned a valuable lesson from this, and you will be successful with your sleeve.
Just one more thing, and you may already be doing this, I found that monitoring every bite of food on MyFitnessPal really helps me. And when I eat something I am not supposed, I make a note of what I was feeling that day, what was going on that led me to eat something I know I shouldn't have, and how it made me feel. That really helps me to put it down in words, and be able to look back on it as well. Sometimes I just ate something because I was out with friends, at a social event and I wanted to enjoy what everyone else was. And that is 100% okay because I know the majority of the time I do make good choices. It is called living, and you know what, I love living.
Much luck and success to you, my sleeve sister!

My profile picture is the new me. I'm happy to say that new month will be a year since my surgery. I started my journey weighing 451 pounds and today I'm at my goal weight of 250 pounds. I feel great and wouldn't trade it for nothing. Im glad I decided to get rid of my baby fat and turn into a tone chocolate goddess(stroking my ego). Congratulations to everyone who made the choice to change their image.

I am 10 weeks pre-op and when I told a good friend of mine, she was very concerned about it being a healthy decision. I didn't take it as jealousy, just real concern because she wasn't knowledgable about the facts. So I told her more about it and thought we were ok. Now, anytime I bring it up, she ignores me or changes the subject. I am hoping that, as she gets used to it, she will come around. But she has her own weight struggles so I think there is a little side of her that is resentful/jealous. We will see how things play out as my journey progresses.
On another note, I am trying to take a proactive approach with people's reactions. Before I looked into VSG, I, myself, was ignorant of the facts and thought it was the easy way out. I am going to try to be as open as possible about my experience with people because I am so proud that I am taking this step. Maybe I can change some people's ignorance into knowledge and acceptance. We could all use more support, not criticism. I am so inspired by all of you! Thank you!!!!!

Shortly after surgery I had to go to 4 funerals, and of course I had to go to the repasts. I knew there would be lots of food and knew I had to come prepared with my Water and Protein Shakes. It may be hard, but you just have to find a way to focus on your family, not the food.

Vaseline helps to form a protective coat also, you will need it. Be prepared.

My motto is why lie when the truth will do! I don't mind telling people I had WLS because when co-workers see you eating a small portion do you think they aren't going to know something? Chyle please! All the effort people spend trying to develop a "story" they could just tell the person "I had weight loss surgery!" I tell people I had weight loss surgery because I was becoming more and more unhealthy and I don't EVER want to be dependent on anyone else. I love life and if I can do something to become a healthier person, I'm doing it. The question I want to ask is what are you afraid is going to happen when you tell the truth? Be BOLD, embrace your new healthier life!

Agree with good reading material, good toilet paper, and wipes. One thing that is nice too is some baby diaper cream so your butt doesn't get raw from all the wiping.

I sorry you had to experience that. I think we all have had that moment of weakness where we ate something that we shouldn't have. The key is not continuing on that path... Learn from it and try and figure out why you did it in the first place. I have heard several people and read from a variety of authors that say weightloss is mostly mental...and if you don't deal with that part then once a person loses their weight, it will be very difficult to maintain. Figure out what your triggers are and what lead you to eating the bread. You have come too far not to.
Best of luck to you and again we have all had our moments, the key is learning something from it.