No game

4alongerlife,
I completely agree with you--about everything you wrote. I, too, feel like sometimes this forum gets a little toxic. I'm nearly 2 months post-op (with no complications, thank God), and have been coming here for months.
I was sleeved at mayo Clinic, and I've got to say...I was not put on a rigid post-op program. Nor did I have a pre-op diet. I had 12 days Clear Liquids, a little less than one month puree, then the surgeon/dietitian said I could start adding soft foods in as I felt ready, and advance to a normal diet...as I felt ready. My surgeon has done thousands of surgeries, and the complication rate at Mayo is minimal. If they feel that I can progress as I'm ready...I'll trust them. But, sometimes I also need some advice. I don't want to email the dietitian or call the surgical service every time I want to try something new. For example, popcorn isn't listed in my book. I haven't wanted any, but I have no idea when it's safe to eat, so I look to others who have had this surgery for advice.
With so many doctors having so many different plans, you can surely understand why people get confused. Why is it that this person can eat crackers and cheese sticks at 2 weeks out, but another person is told by their doctor they need to wait 2 months? It really makes little sense--since the surgery is basically done the same way in every hospital.
Now, Mayo is a HUGE medical institution, known worldwide. If they don't give me a "strict plan" to follow, imagine how many other sleevers, who had their surgeries elsewhere, are in the same boat! Maybe a newbie posts about wanting to eat popcorn or they have a question about WLS friendly fast food options-- it could be because they honestly were not told and did not know. There have been a lot of times I've had questions about certain foods--just curious when others tried them and how they tolerated--but I really haven't felt absolutely comfortable doing that here. I didn't want to be attacked.
That being said, I truly understand the risks of eating foods early. I've read enough posts on here to realize that leaks happen (how often they happen due to someone progressing their diet too early, I'm not sure, every story that I have read has been because of some sort of doctor error.), but I PERSONALLY feel that a lot of times threads get completely "hijacked" by the same people all the time, telling their horrible (they are absolutely horrible, I can't imagine ever living through such an experience. You ladies and gents are tough!) stories about complications, scaring the original poster half to death or making them feel like they're complete failures, all the while never offering an answer to their question.
We've all been there. We've all made a mistake. We know what it feels like to fail. Instead of reaming the poster out, how about offering some advice or support? Not calling them "nuts" or making them feel worse than they already do?
I don't know, maybe I just had to vent all this out, but it's kind of starting to get to me. Maybe this is a reason there isn't a ton of long-term sleevers on the board? I don't know.

The best part is when I opened the front door and she has a half eaten cookie hanging out of her mouth while trying not to spill the rest of the tray!!

I remember when checking into the hospital looking at my paper work and seeing " morbidly obese" my doctor had been trying to get me to eat right for years.. As far as I'm concerned common sense has nothing to do with it. Where was your common sense when you were chowing down on a KFC drumstick!
We were killing ourselves with EVERY BITE we took..

Can totally see a difference today! Had to share. Seeing this made me feel I made a good decision to get healthy! Have a long road yet to get but it's a good start!
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Haha Tammy, I would not question yours or anyone else's intelligence! We all know going against your doctors orders is harmful and I don't condone it. I don't and nobody else needs someone telling us we lack BASIC (the lowest form) common sense who hasn't even had the surgery!! That baffles me! I didn't cheat by the way, but I would never belittle someone in their time of weakness.

The best part is when I opened the front door and she has a half eaten cookie hanging out of her mouth while trying not to spill the rest of the tray!!

Funny it doesn't surprise me that people are looking to some how to justify "cheating" . We all know our doctors orders and yes they do vary A LOT!!! It's up to the individual to adhere to those instructions or not..
But I get it. We are getting this surgery because we haven't had long term success with other methods of weight loss. For those of you waiting for surgery it might be very easy to say " well you must be a weak person or a fool if you can't follow your doctors diet" I would like to ask what brings you here to this point of needing WLS...
That being said, I follow what I'm supposed to do because I really want to do the right thing now.
BUT I have my struggles with it some days. Does that make me weak or reckless?
I really tried not to jump in on this one but oh well
You all can have at me now

If this isn't a place of kindred spirits where I can let off a little steam about being sick of eating gross mushy foods, then someone please point me to that place. I thought that was here among people who get it, because it's certainly not among my friends who thought I could just puree a chicken thigh, or that I would just be eating salad right out of surgery.
There is so much tough love here and that's awesome for people who respond to it. Not everyone does. A little corrective action is necessary. I see so much berating and brow beating though. *shrug * I guess if that's your way that's what the ignore list is for.
When you're on week three of chicken broth and nasty Protein you earn the right to say you're sick of eating that.

If I had "self control" or was able to "get my addictions under control prior to surgery", then I wouldn't have needed the surgery. The sleeve is a tool, our brain wasn't sleeved, just our tummy. Everyone is different, everyone has different levels of willpower and self control. We cannot help the cravings we have, we try hard to fight the temptations, but sometimes we just need support from others who are going through what we are going through and advice on how they handled it, not a condemning lecture, just support.
Sent from my iPad using VST

Maybe its because you have only been here a couple of weeks, but your post ( in my opinion) is insensitive and judgemental... People who need this surgery are not typically good at staying on diets, or are yo yo dieters who sometimes fail when it comes to always doing the right thing. I am a professional dieter, but after my surgeon had me on Liquid Protein skakes for FIVE weeks, even commercials for McDonalds looked like gourmet cuisine...
I think some come here to vent, some come to be talked out of a temptation because this? ...Is a SUPPORT group...
To say that people are "lacking in common sense" because they may need help to stay on track is just ... mean.
I hope if you have a rough day and are tempted, that you get the support you need and are not belittled.

Funny it doesn't surprise me that people are looking to some how to justify "cheating" . We all know our doctors orders and yes they do vary A LOT!!! It's up to the individual to adhere to those instructions or not..
But I get it. We are getting this surgery because we haven't had long term success with other methods of weight loss. For those of you waiting for surgery it might be very easy to say " well you must be a weak person or a fool if you can't follow your doctors diet" I would like to ask what brings you here to this point of needing WLS...
That being said, I follow what I'm supposed to do because I really want to do the right thing now.
BUT I have my struggles with it some days. Does that make me weak or reckless?
I really tried not to jump in on this one but oh well
You all can have at me now

Wow, pretty incendiary post. I've sometimes wanted to post that I was hungry or that I couldn't take another day of _____. Glad I didn't. Pretty harsh crowd.

You know, I know, everyone on this board knows its not easy! People that care about me know its not an easy road. And the people that don't take the time to understand or care, Have no affect on my life one way or another. They will not know my deepest secrets they will not take care of me when I'm old.. So take care of yourself and the ones you love and the rest can find their own way

You know, I know, everyone on this board knows its not easy! People that care about me know its not an easy road. And the people that don't take the time to understand or care, Have no affect on my life one way or another. They will not know my deepest secrets they will not take care of me when I'm old.. So take care of yourself and the ones you love and the rest can find their own way

Kicking soda is hard to do! I stopped a year ago when I decided to cut out all sugars fake and real.. Oh and I lost weight.. But then start gaining again. After my son was born I went on a dr supervised diet lost all my weight! Then gained it back again. I have lost weight with low carb diets, and then gained it back again..
This surgery changed everything and is not easy somedays but its my last chance at a healthy life so it's worth it. Give it time it's hard in the beginning but gets easier everyday.
It sounds like u love your husband go on a date that doesn't involve food.< /p>
My husband and I like walking on the beach

That's awesome!! You look great and happy

Kicking soda is hard to do! I stopped a year ago when I decided to cut out all sugars fake and real.. Oh and I lost weight.. But then start gaining again. After my son was born I went on a dr supervised diet lost all my weight! Then gained it back again. I have lost weight with low carb diets, and then gained it back again..
This surgery changed everything and is not easy somedays but its my last chance at a healthy life so it's worth it. Give it time it's hard in the beginning but gets easier everyday.
It sounds like u love your husband go on a date that doesn't involve food.< /p>
My husband and I like walking on the beach

I make my chili:
I pound ground turkey browned in a big pot
Then I add
I can chicken broth
2 cans black Beans
I can diced tomatoes
I small can Tomato paste
I green bell pepper
I red bell pepper chopped into small pieces
I small onion chopped into small pieces
Then I will add chili powder and salt to taste or you can just buy a packet of chili spices and ignore the recipe and dump it in!
My husband and kids love it

They took out our stomach but left behind our brains! I think about it and hunger was not driving me to eat my head was! It is a big thing to over come I struggle daily with it.. I found that junk food goes down way easy. So we need to be really careful with it. I only feel the restriction when I eat Proteins. So that's the key right ?
Easier said than done.

Threads like this remind me how much our society centers everything around food. These holidays in particular. It's almost like an American past time....if family gets together there must be mass quantities of food involved...but why? My family Christmas dinner will be this Saturday, and the whole day will be centered around preparing, then eating this gigantic meal. I'd rather spend my time doing other things than just gorging on a big meal, then waiting impatiently for it to go down enough to eat more.

They took out our stomach but left behind our brains! I think about it and hunger was not driving me to eat my head was! It is a big thing to over come I struggle daily with it.. I found that junk food goes down way easy. So we need to be really careful with it. I only feel the restriction when I eat Proteins. So that's the key right ?
Easier said than done.

They took out our stomach but left behind our brains! I think about it and hunger was not driving me to eat my head was! It is a big thing to over come I struggle daily with it.. I found that junk food goes down way easy. So we need to be really careful with it. I only feel the restriction when I eat Proteins. So that's the key right ?
Easier said than done.