Mickeydies

I really don't miss a lot of the foods I used to eat. I came out of surgery with a hate for certain foods I used to love. I can't stand the taste of chocolate much, sodas of any kind, and even Water tastes still like it does when a person is sick. But there is lemon water, and the liquid diet orange koolaid to shoot into the water. I have found a serious craving for fresh anything, veggies, fruits, meats, what we are supposed to eat. I've hit pause, and have been hovering for a couple of weeks weight wise, but my close are still growing on me, so my body I guess is just doing a catch up. Yes, I wish I could have done it on my own, BUT, with all the prednisone, and weight gain, and inabilty to lose, I decided to nip in in the bud. Has it been rough, heck yeah, just had gall bladder surgery, so 2 surgeries in 3 months...but most of my pain(Back, knees, feet, shoulders) is gone with the 82 lbs I've lost, and I can keep up with anyone now. PLUS, I'm going to be a grandmother for the first time in February, and my grandkid is going to have a Grandma DD that can do the fun things with...which is far more important than any food I may miss out on. I do love having 6 meals a day and knowing if I get full before the apetite runs out, I just have to wait 3 hours, and I can eat again, and shrink, shrink shrink!

I replied absolutely before, and now that I am down 82 lbs, absolutely again! I did have to go ahead and have my gall bladder out July 3rd, and that has resolved the pain issue I had when I eat anything, so my stamina is down a bit with the two surgeries. But it's building back fast. I wish this had been an option 15 years ago.

I understand that, I had a 2 day bout of OMG, what the hell have I done, I've cut my Blanking stomach out. It happened about 10 days after surgery for me. I'd been confidently preparing for 8 months to get it done, then, holy cow, and liquids were awful, water tasted like crud, and I thought well, this is it. Lasted about 2 days, and it was over. Thing is, my doctor said I might face a little depression, but woah, that episode, unreal. Hasn't happened since. But remember, your body has been thrown into a major change mode here. You won't regret it later. Once you get to feeling better, this will pass as well, but you should probably contact your doctor and get some help for the nausea, not to mention some comfort from your doctor that this will pass, and not only will you survive, you will thrive! Good luck, I'll be praying for you and checking back to see how you are doing.

Have you had any metabolic or endocrine studies done? I found out 40 years ago, I have no thyroid, so without the supplement that I have been taking for my whole life, I wouldn't have lost the weight well either. It wasn't what got me or kept me fat, or kept me from losing. I have had it monitored every 6 months for 40 years. Even with that, I could pack the food in. But, when I was trying to lose my 6 months requirement of 26 lbs, it was agonizingly slow, even with exercise. It took this surgery, and once again another medication adjustment to make sure my metabolic rate stays normal.

yeah, I was public about it from the moment I decided to have the surgery. I am always ready to help anyone who needs it. It's hard sometimes when people aren't ready to hear it. There are a few here at work, they are in need of the help, but aren't ready. They know I had the surgery. They kind of give me a smile and a nod when they hear how I lost it, but they aren't ready to make that choice. So, they know I am here, and I'll let them start the conversation now when they are ready.

I lost 9 pounds the 3 weeks before surgery on the pre-op diet. No problem though, cause the surgery had already been approved, and I felt better that I had lost those lbs before the surgery. Kind of told me I could do it.

I can stand sweet and sugary any more, robs me of the energy. Perhaps you need to go see the doctor about your blood sugar, that could be giving you the problem.

I started using a nice lotion called Cera Ve, it has really helped with the moisture issues I started having with my skin, it contains natural ceramides, like our skins produce, and it's not greasy, but helps me look healthier. As for dark circles, I assume you are getting enough rest, and your nutrition is still good, getting lots of protein? My circles are better since surgery, cause I am sleeping better...probably because I no longer have a large late night meal to digest.

EXACTLY, my nutritionist said that even at 800 calories a day, and getting the proper protein, by having the surgery, you have still put your body into a starvation state. It's physically impossible for us to eat much more than that, if eating extremely low carb, and so the body has no choice but to use it's reserves. Which is why the nutrition is so critical. I still can't eat much over 2 ounces at a time, so I make sure to drink at least 30 grams of protein a day, and just trying to get the nutritional requirements uses all the alloted calories. BTW, I am really enjoying your posts. I am learning a tremendous amount from you.

I am excited for you as well. It's been a total game changer, life changer for me, and I'd do this again in a heartbeat.

NeverBeTheSameAgain, on May 24, 2013 - 11:16 AM, said: So heres 2 u food from an OLD friend!!!!! YOU GO GIRL!!! WE ARE ALL HERE STILL, AND WE ARE ROUTING FOR YOU!!!!!

Clear liquds you can see through, full liquids you can't. I only had to have clear liquids until day after surgery when I had my leak test. And I find that water after surgery was gross. Make your liquids the strength that tastes good and doesn't make you queasy. sugar free Popsicles were great for me on that. Everyone responds differently, so just use your good judgement to the liquids you like, and go down easy. Don't forget your Protein. I liked fudgescicles, popsicles, and a good lemonade fresh squeezed with splenda is nice. I found frozen yogurt to be good for queasy as well. I'd get a No Sugar Added from TCBY and take home, and have a couple ounces when I needed to quell and just taste something normal. I am now on any foods I can tolerate, and I once couldn't wait to get to this spot, but all along the way, and still I go to liquids and softs a lot easier than other foods. I still have one meal that is a Protein shake a day.

I know about the retrain the brain. I stated a month ago, the biggest thing, is we had surgery on our stomachs, but not our eyes and brain, they still see and calculate the same. As for being stopped in your tracks, you hit that on the head. As soon as I feel the smallest pressure I stop. One more bite, and it want to revisit. My husband the other day wanted me to try some of his food, and I was already full. He said oh, try one bite...I said I had to wait about 3 or 4 hours before my stomach would let me. He was astounded by the fact that 2 months out, I can still only eat 2 ounces...what did he think, it would grow right back to original size. His brain and eyes see things the way ours did. You are right, we are truly retraining our brains and eyes. I looked at this surgery as my insurance policy for weight loss. I am now physically incapable of over-eating.

I do a lot of liquids and soft food too. Lots easier to digest. BTW, I can't wait for June, I will have a bumper crop of blackberries. Grow em, eat em right off the vines.!

My food started tasting gross after surgery. When I went to Clear liquids, the juices, even at half strength tasted too strong. Most food now does, unless I cook it myself, which means eliminating salts, sugars, grease, etc. I am now enjoying natural foods, I guess it's goo that I no longer like real sweet and salty, or greasy. I never knew whole natural foods could have so much flavor. We cover up so much of our foods great taste with additives. You'll find a new food adventure ahead when you have your surgery. Looks like you were going through the same 6 month prep as I did. Still, even though I don't have to, at least one meal is a Liquid Protein shake a day. It's just easy to digest.

No judgement here, if I could have had this when I had a pre 30 BMI, I would have. I would have stopped this before it became the nightmare it was. My husband is 5"11, weight is 215, looks pretty good, but he's gained 40 pounds in the last 5 years, and he is a man with heart problems. So, when he heard from the physician that he was considered obese, it's got him thinking. My friend went to Mexico, and had no problems, her only thing is she thought it was a magic wand, and eats like she did before. No judgement there either, if my insurance hadn't picked this up, I'd been on the plane with her. You did what was right for you to keep it from being a horror for you later. I applaud your decision.

You'll be fine, a good whine every now and thing is a cleansing thing! I am two months post op, and still like the softer stuff. It'll just take time. When I have a whiney time, I get myself a lovely bite of something expensive. Warm Brie cheese on a water craker, frozen yogurt, diet popsicle, anything for a small make me feel special for a minute stuff. Cause I' have learned this one thing, a bite is as good as the slice, bar, piece, bowl, etc. So, don't forget to stuff a little living into the corners. I too would love a burger, but scared it'd hurt me yet.

Toria, Eazy's right, don't push it. I went to pureed for stage 2, then soft for stage 3. Now I am on stage 4, and can eat what's comfortable...you'll find out what is easy for you. meats are hard to digest, as well as garden greens, so I go easy on them, and mostly chop them. I'm in the south, and pulled chicken with very light sauce is easy, as long as it's chopped fine. i came out of the hospital weighing a bit more than when I left. Hydration. That's the biggie. I couldn't stand Water for a long time, so watered down diet lemonade from Chick-fil-a was great, and now I buy a couple of gallons a week. Hang in there. i plan on staying at 600 to 800 calories a day until the weight is all off. However, I've gone fast for a couple of weeks, then slow, then stopped for almost a week, scared me to death, thought the losing was over, but it picked back up just fine. Eazy's right, once you get it going, it would be tough to derail, or change your new habits, because nothing will ever taste as good as being thinner and healthier feels.

Hang in there you'll have up and down days at first, but you'll get there. Try and steer your mind off of it, it's hard, but I had to force myself into other things to keep my sanity. 2 days after I got home, I had this OMG, OMG, panic, I cut my XXXX'ing stomach out, what have I done. After about 24 hours I was ok, but geez, even with all the months of prep, it was a mind blower. I was ok when I realized it wasn't going to kill me but make me better.

I came out with water tasting awful for the first time in my life, and everything tasted different than before surgery. I hate sugar and salt now, and foods are much stronger tasting than I remembered. I has been a baby step process. I live in the south, and the one thing that has continued to taste great for me is Chic-fil-a's diet lemonade. It was my savior right out of surgery for hydration. I buy it by the gallon about twice a week. Water is beginning to taste ok now, but it's taken a while.

I'll let you know when I get to normal, but I have felt better and better every day since surgery. I had mine March 20, 2013. I am nearly out of pain for the first time in 6 years. So, I guess I am getting more and more normal every day. As I've had to slow down to eat, it's been helping to bring more calm into my life in other areas. My confidence is high, and yours will be there very, very, very soon!

Looking Great Lissa! I'll be putting some before and after pics on myself soon. Maybe in a couple weeks, when I've hit the 75 lb loss mark.

I've gone back and been reading some of the posts. Anna, I hope things are going better for you. But, I think you probably saved your life with surgery. I know I did, not just save my life, but get living back. Some of us, our lives were more at risk before surgery than after. I never thought I would ever have weight loss surgery. But hey, sometimes you have to just cut to the chase and go for the gusto, instead of messing around trying and not succeeding. My husband has been so-so with the support. He was there at the hospital when I had the surgery, but left me alone for the two days I was there until I came home. Says he can't abide hospitals. Well, he is more supportive now, but that doesn't mean we aren't on issues over this sometimes. He found out the other day, he now has a BMI of 30, which makes him, yes, yes, OBESE. So, he's having his issues. However, I am almost completely pain free now, and am learning to slow my life down and enjoy not just meals, but everything...Again, I hope this finds your life going so much better. I'll keep praying for you and everyone here.

Sleeved on March 20th, 2013. Still eating only 600-800 calories a day, and most foods still hurt. Soft foods are best still for me. But this too shall pass. I am feeling so much better otherwise.