theshrinkingchef

Okay! So I haven't read through all of this, so this may be a repeater. There is an attitude about WLS that people who don't have a weight problem have that is well....cruel and mean. They think it's the easy way out, cheating or downright lazy. Sorry, there are a lot of judgmental people out there. There's no shame in telling someone diet and exercise. Because, guess what? It is diet and exercise with the assistance of surgery.
My coworkers are jerks and are never happy for anyone. And that's the truth! They use any information and try to use it for malicious intent. You think I want to share anything with someone that is so miserable that thatching never bd happy for me, heck no! Maybe your neighbor is guarded and has trust issues. Maybe that is something she has to work on. To share something so personal that may even have a tinge of shame with her may be difficult. Every person is different. She's not a liar, she's just not ready. It's none if your business. It's no ones and to imply that it should be shared is ridiculous.
If someone were to ask me, I might tell them. Not because I'm secretive, but I trust and believe that they habe the best intentions and wish me well. Consider that.

I know it's hard and like they said above haters are going to hate. Continue being yourself and forget about them. They are obviously insecure in themselves. Sad to say, we don't go to work to make friends. We go to earn money to pay bills and live our lives. It's nice if you meet some nice folks along the way, but you know who your true friends are and who has your back. Not these folks.
I had a number of co workers be outwardly mean to mean. They would call me rich girl and they thought I was a snob and thought I was better than them. Instead of getting upset, I always smiled and moved on. I was always pleasant and kill them with kindness. I knew it drove them nuts! Because I never gave them the power to control my feelings. Misery loves company and they wanted me to feel bad too! I would just smile and keep on moving. Eventually they came around and realized I was truly a nice person. Now, I'm not saying we became the best of friends, but work was tolerable. I found out many years later that they all had major issues in their home lives and it's why they were who they were. I was never mean to them and I guess in their own way appreciated that because now when I see them I'm greeted with warm smiles.
You're right, you never know anyone's story. Keep doing what you have to do and kill them with kindness. It'll drive them crazy!

I guess I'm just at a place in my life where I don't sweat the small stuff and I'm just not that sensitive to negative comments anymore. I've accepted myself, I love myself and I am taking steps to improve the quality of my life for myself. I'm also a brutally honest person. I don't have time to sugar coat things, but I also recognize that there are ways to be frank with people, without being rude, sometimes.
Most people dong want to hear the truth. They want to hear what they want and ride unicorns and chase rainbows. It's easier than dealing with reality. It took me a while to face my reality and once I did, I realized that it's not that bad. In fact, i gained a lot of perspective and realized that it could be worse and thank the Lord that it's not. If someone calls me fat! Okay. And? So what If someone calls you fat. Okay. And? What else you got? Who cares. If you love yourself, then it shouldn't matter. If doesn't matter. If someone says something you don't like, dismiss it. We're not going to like everything or everyone. You may not like what I have to say, but, unlike some, I will tell you the truth. Being upset over what someone says to you is not going to change the situation. I'm sure those people have moved on. Why are you holding on to it?
Please understand that my statements are not directed at anyone specifically. I also feel that we get too worked up and wrapped up in nonsense that we miss the message. Maybe the delivery could be nicer, but if it isn't, does it make it any less valid? Take it for what it is and stop reading in between the lines. Say thank you and move on. It's not gospel, it's one person's opinion.

I see both sides. The truth is, we're all adults. The choices we make either have consequences or rewards and we have to live with those outcomes( good or bad). No one likes to hear tough love or negative comments. I know I don't, but, as adults, we have to be able to interpret good intentions versus bad ones and dismiss them if the ones that are bad( sticks and stones, right?) I'm sure most people are well meaning but their delivery is a little off and it comes across as pious or condescending. Take it with a grain of salt. Life really is too short to take offense. Sure it stings, but it shouldn't dictate your life. You are going to do what you want despite what anyone says... So who cares? I've learned a lot from this forum and have a lot more to learn. I appreciate the honesty and how open everyone is about their experiences. I take what I need to to heart and leave the nonsense behind. There's always going to be someone out there being judgmental or think they know the best way to do things. You do what is best for you. Do you really give a hoot what others think? If so, then maybe you're not ready.... I'm really just kidding! . Have a glorious day and enjoy this journey!

I see both sides. The truth is, we're all adults. The choices we make either have consequences or rewards and we have to live with those outcomes( good or bad). No one likes to hear tough love or negative comments. I know I don't, but, as adults, we have to be able to interpret good intentions versus bad ones and dismiss them if the ones that are bad( sticks and stones, right?) I'm sure most people are well meaning but their delivery is a little off and it comes across as pious or condescending. Take it with a grain of salt. Life really is too short to take offense. Sure it stings, but it shouldn't dictate your life. You are going to do what you want despite what anyone says... So who cares? I've learned a lot from this forum and have a lot more to learn. I appreciate the honesty and how open everyone is about their experiences. I take what I need to to heart and leave the nonsense behind. There's always going to be someone out there being judgmental or think they know the best way to do things. You do what is best for you. Do you really give a hoot what others think? If so, then maybe you're not ready.... I'm really just kidding! . Have a glorious day and enjoy this journey!

They will give you pain medication, so, I used that and stayed ahead of the pain, so no problem there for me.
I was outpatient and was out noon. Took a 4 hour nap and took my wife out to dinner (surgery was in Vegas, baby!) We walked around downtown and I even played a couple hands of blackjack.
The next day, we went to M&M, Venetian, Wynn and all over downtown again. Day after that was more of the same. Moving is essential to aid the body in getting the surgical gas, which is trapped in your body, out. This gas causes the most discomfort, but it's not a deal breaker.
I froze all my prepped foods, too. I have many posts about using glass canning jars (jam jars). They're great. Cheap, reusable and pop right into the microwave. I can grab one on the way the door to work and it is thawed by lunchtime. I still do this today 17+ months out. The jam jars are perfect portions. I have Soups, lasagna, german cabbage and ground turkey ... all leftovers. They're great.

I actually felt so good I asked my surgeon if he really did take out most of my stomach. I can drunk easily and don't experience any nausea. I may be on of the lucky ones but I think there are a lot of us out there. I heard so many of the horror stories before hand that I just assumed it was the masses.

I was not in a lot of pain at all. I was up and moving immediately after surgery. By the time I came home, I was looking after my 7 wk old and 4 yr old boys.

My Protein shakes were the only "Processed" (Premier Protein from Costco) food I ate. I made lots of Soups, too. All you have to do is listen to your body. You'll know what you can and can't handle and progress at your own pace. Eventually, you will be back to eating anything and everything, just in smaller quantities.
17+ months out here and I can eat anything.

I'm only six weeks out but I think having a passion for cooking will help you. Don't eat processed/precooked junk! You want to feed your body healthy food with nutrition! If it's empty calories, don't eat it. The surgery has helped me learn to eat to live not live to eat. I cook all of my food so I know exactly what's in it. I wouldn't prepare too much before surgery because sometimes your taste buds change and at first you really can't eat a whole lot (1/4 cup for me).

The first thing you have to stop is thinking that this is all your fault. Whatever happened to get you to the point where you needed to ask for help about your weight is nothing to be ashamed of. We all have our pride. I certainly do and for the longest time, I was in denial that I could do this on my own. You took a step to change your life for the better. Yes, you had part of your stomach removed. at this point, there is no buyers remorse. So, you now have to deal with the things you can control and what you have to looked forward to. I've heard that some people do experience some form of depression and at least you are recognizing it before you go into a full blown depression. Coming from someone who has been in a severe depression, it's no fun and you do feel like you are having an out of body experience. Once I took the shame out of what I was feeling and got some help, things started to get better. My advice is to go see someone even if you think it will pass. This is an overwhelming experience and it is a total lifestyle overhaul.
BTW. you are normal, just feeling different right now. Hopefully, when you are all healed up and have adjusted to your new lifestyle you'll see and feel the difference. you can't have regrets now, just keep moving and please go talk to someone( even if it's just once)
Take care

A lot of veggie protein(morning star and boca) have wheat gluten in them, so you have to be careful, especially if you have an intolerance. like me! I eat a mostly vegetarian diet. Have you heard of complete Proteins? I just learned about them in culinary school. Like Beans and rice, hummus and pitas. Those pairings are considered complete proteins, providing your body with all of your essential aminos. Greek yogurt is high in Protein and also provides you with good bacteria for healthy digestion. Check out complementary proteins. I'm not a vegetarian, but out of necessity I have eliminated most meats from my diet. You can have a healthy lifestyle eating meat( red meat in moderation), but i would suggest free range, grass fed organic meats. I drink raw milk. Just milked from the cow. It's not pastuerized or homogenized. It's illegal in most states, so you must own dairy cows in order to get it. If it's possible, consider a herdshare. We lose so may nutrients from store bought milk, which is why they're added back in. It's not for everyone. It's an aquired taste, but I grew up on farm fresh milk. Anyway before I go all activist on you, I just wanted to say that you can get your protein from other sources in food.< /p>

Or... you might have food allergies. I have food allergies and one of the side effects I experienced was sinus infections. I used to get them 6 to 7 times a year. No one could figure out why. My PCP was no help. I had a number of symtoms: sluggishness, lethargy, achy runny nose, watery eyes, you name it. My PCP stareted to treat me like I was nuts. I went to an ENT that found a sinus blockage, but he couldn't understand why I got sick all of the time and sent me to an allergiest. low and behold....I'm allergic to the earth. I didn't have these as a child, but as an adult, i have them all. My food allergies are more like sensitivities, which means I don't have violent reactions, but I do have them. Since diagnosis, i have not had ONE sinus infection. Real talk: dairy, chicken and any fast forming moldy foods(berries, bread, etc) are mucus formers. I'm not trying to sound militant, but I believe a lot of our physical problems and ailments can traced back to the food we eat. You may have also developed environmental allergies. I have both. Every person that has complained about one thing or another i have suggested they get allergy tested and they have ALL come back with some interesting issues. You'd be surprised. I'm a chef that is allergic to most foods! I have become an allegen free chef and I grow a lot of my own foods, I bought into a herd share(raw milk and dairy) and I'm the queen of substitutions and I have not gone to visit my PCP in almost a year! No depression, no sinus infections, no muscle aches....all gone! Consider it.

Hello everyone, I am Ricky and I'm new to all of this. Recently I made the decision to look in to weight loss surgery. For a long time, I looked at WLS as something extremely obese people did and never thought in a million years I could qualify for something so radical. I have struggled with be a big girl for most of my life. I've never thought I'd want to be rail thin, because I think curves should be on a woman. i do, however think I should be smaller than I am today. At my "thinnest" , I was very healthy and I worked out 4-6 times a week, depending on the week. Eash session, I worked out 2-3 hours and I was dedicated. i got into bodybuilding and lifted/trained with some of the best in the world. My former trainer is going for Mr. Olympia and the other one was Ms. Fitness. I wasn't light, but I was lean. Most of my weight was muscle mass and I was comfortably fitting in size 6/8. Several years ago, I became injured through my job and I'm still, to this day, not back to my old self. I have struggle through 2 foot surgeries, which have prevented me from exercise. During that time i managed to pack on 80lbs. Yes, I let it all go. I will say that I never altered my diet, while working out and that is the main reason I wasn't able to maintain all these years. I at big macs and whoppers because I could. i was maxing15-20 hours a week in the gym! had I eaten cleaner, I would have probably minimize the damage. As the years have gone by, i would lose 20lbs here, 30lbs there and then stop and gain it all back and recently I gained more after struggling with severe depression and taking anti-depressents to combat it. For some, they're lucky enough to lose weight on them, for me it was the opposite. This year, Jan 2012, I maxed out at 278 pounds. The highest I've ever been in life. I can say I am happier now, but still down about my weight. Also, in January I had my second foot surgery. It's been tough. I've also been diagnosed with severe food allergies, which I suffer with, because I haven't really modified my diet. Through all of this, I attended culinary school and learned how to be a chef, i recently completed in August. It was around that time that i decided I really needed to do something about my weight. I'm tired of buying bigger clothes every few months and I'm tired of being uncomfortable in my own skin. I vowed not to have anothe "fat-faced" picture taken of me. But, as I tried in the past to lose weight, I discovered it wasn't as easy as it used to be. I didn't know what was happening. I never had a problem losing weight. Now, i'm armed with an arsenal of information about exercise and diet and I couldn't lose a thing. I was used to being able to shed 50-60lbs in 5-6 months. i was lucky to lose 2lbs in 2 months. It was around August that I talked to a friend of mine, who had had gastric bypass, a few years back and she mentioned her sister getting lap-band surgery. I never viewed her sister as being out of control obese, infact, I never saw her as being big. How was that possible? As I asked a whole bunch of questions, I started looking into it for myself and discovered that I, too, could qualify for WLS and actively persued it. So here I am today. I've teetered on the fence between lap-band and gastric sleeve. I once was very gung ho about the lap band and decided it was just not for me. I have firmly planted my feet in the land of gastric sleeve. I am currently going into month 2 of my 3 month supervised weight loss. I am currently 264 pounds and hope to shed another 5-6 pounds before the new year. It seems onece I stopped stressing about everything and made a few modifications, ie drinking more Water, the weight is slowly coming off. I was intinally discouraged about the Supervised weight loss, but soon realized some things happen for a reason. This time, i want to do things right. I am mentally and physically preparing myself for my future. Gastric Sleeve surgery is no joke and requires a complete lifestyle overhaul. I am still planning to mave forward with my surgery. WLS is a tool that can be used to help maintain any loss that I woould acheive. I've come to this forum to learn from others and I also feel that I have information that may be beneficial to others. I look forward to meeting everyone and losing weight.

Spinning is awesome! You can burn up to 800-1000 calories per hour class. Definitely get some cycling shorts! cycling also helps lengthen your leg muscles(leaner) and works your core( no crunches, yay!).
I've heard that wearing a compression garment all the time helps with gravity wanting to take over. Exercising with loose skin is only going to exacerbate the issue. We all like wearing loose fitting clothes when we work out, cuz they're comfortable. We really should be wearing form fitting to keep our skin from jiggling and gravity pulling us down.
I've been extensively researching this because I'm not interested in having a bodylift after all of this. I'm on my medically supervised diet, Pre-op. I am using this time to mentally and physically prepare for this surgery.
I am following the paleo diet. It's low carb, high Protein. No processed foods. This guy Mark Sisson breaks down the phenomenon of loose skin. Google him and loose skin. It's very interesting and plausible.
In addition, I do wear a compression garment all the time, even when I sleep. Nothing contricting, just holds me in. I prefer two pieces instead of one. Tj maxx and marshalls have all types of good ones for under $20. I love Flexees. They're soft and comfortable for sleeping in and layering under clothes and working out. I do have heavy duty ones, like vedette and body magic, but the seem restricting, ie, you know it's there. I'll use those post op, to help with compression. Spanx

Spinning is awesome! You can burn up to 800-1000 calories per hour class. Definitely get some cycling shorts! cycling also helps lengthen your leg muscles(leaner) and works your core( no crunches, yay!).
I've heard that wearing a compression garment all the time helps with gravity wanting to take over. Exercising with loose skin is only going to exacerbate the issue. We all like wearing loose fitting clothes when we work out, cuz they're comfortable. We really should be wearing form fitting to keep our skin from jiggling and gravity pulling us down.
I've been extensively researching this because I'm not interested in having a bodylift after all of this. I'm on my medically supervised diet, Pre-op. I am using this time to mentally and physically prepare for this surgery.
I am following the paleo diet. It's low carb, high Protein. No processed foods. This guy Mark Sisson breaks down the phenomenon of loose skin. Google him and loose skin. It's very interesting and plausible.
In addition, I do wear a compression garment all the time, even when I sleep. Nothing contricting, just holds me in. I prefer two pieces instead of one. Tj maxx and marshalls have all types of good ones for under $20. I love Flexees. They're soft and comfortable for sleeping in and layering under clothes and working out. I do have heavy duty ones, like vedette and body magic, but the seem restricting, ie, you know it's there. I'll use those post op, to help with compression. Spanx

It sucks when you're loved ones don't seem to be supportive. I used to feel that way whenever I went to my mom and shared the next adventure with her and she never seemed enthusiastic. I got to the point where I called her out on it and she finally shared that it wasn't that she wasn't happy or supportive of me, but that she was just overly cautious. Sometimes for her, it's very difficult to throw caution to the wind, whereas, I'm the first one off the ledge! That being said, this surgery is a major deal and although it may not come out that way, she's probably very nervous and like most if us that were heavy for a while or struggled with weight their whole lives, she may be concerned about whether or not this will work. Our parents want us to be successful!( I hope). That being said, regardless of whether she's on board or not, this is your decision. This is for your wellness and happiness. You have to live with you and how you feel about yourself. I would never put things on hold to satisfy someone elses feelings, especially when you're the one that has to live with it. They have their lives and I'm sure may not consider your feelings when making decisions for themselves. That's absolutely selfish! I will say that I am considering the sleeve and for the first time in my life, I am taking my time to get my mind and body ready for a complete lifestyle change. If you're not committed to doing the work, you will struggle. It's important that you feel ready for this, not anyone else. Good luck! I'm sure once you go through with this, things will change.
Btw, I told mg mom I was considering this and she decided to do it for herself, as well. Go figure!

Depending on your situation, i.e. diabetes, cholesterol, etc. I would suggest Protein, lots of Water and fruits and vegetables ONLY. The protein HAS to be lo-carb though. A well respected brand is Beverly International. Met RX has a very tasty ready to drink version that is high in protein and low in carbs. Ultimately, you want to lose the fat and retain your muscle mass. I know it's weird that I know this, but pre-injury swell-up. I used to bodybuild. I worked out with competitive bodybuilders and when it was time for competition and they needed to lean out, they switched to high protein , low carb. Usually 24/48 hours prior to competition they also limited their sodium and water intake. i know that seems strange, but the idea was to showcase the muscle, not the bloat. I'm sure these same principles can be applied in this situation. You definitely do not want to retain water, so cut out the sodium. If possible, Try 3 days of cardio. Walking is good, but if your body is used to walking, you may need to step it up or switch to another activity. If you have access to a sauna and are able to tolerate it, I'd suggest 10 minutes in the sauna a couple of times. It'll rev up that fat burning machine. as long as you are not consuming sugar, which a lot of RTD Protein Shakes have, unless they specify low carb, you should be fine. GOOD sources of protein are essential. Good Luck!