mrs.petethecat

I have been doing random research online to understand better how our body processes foods and about the various hormones in the body that contribute to weight loss. I thought these 3 sites were interesting and thought I would pass them along:
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/diet/slideshows/use-these-8-foods-to-help-you-lose-weight/4
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/15-foods-to-help-you-lose?page=3
http://www.self.com/fooddiet/2010/03/20-superfoods-slideshow#slide=13
Some have easy to incorporate ideas and suggestions.

Protein synthesis and builds muscle that can lead to a higher metabolism. In the same way that strength training can create an anabolic environment that helps burn fat, performing sprints does the same by temporarily boosting growth hormones and testosterone.
After performing sprints, metabolism is significantly elevated, meaning you continue to burn a higher number of calories, even at rest. That means that you can cut your workout time in half and still get the results you’re looking for.
Sprinting can take the form of running, cycling or even rowing. A great starting point is maintaining a sprint for 8 seconds with 3-5 minutes of rest between bursts.
Pushing a prowler can combine the benefits of strength training and sprinting into one exercise. The prowler push is a great full-body, fat-burning workout that allows you to maximize your heart rate while using your lower body to push and contract your upper body and core muscles.
Since high-intensity work using a large volume is one of the best ways to decrease body fat, make sure the resistance is challenging to see the best results.
Counting calories may not be enough to get results if your diet isn’t “clean.”
Eliminate all processed foods, sugar and trans-fats from your diet, and focus on eating fresh forms of protein, vegetables, a moderate amount of fruits and healthy fats such as coconut oil, olive oil and butter from grass-fed cows.
Make sure to get enough Fiber by building your plate around a large serving of antioxidant-rich vegetables such as kale, cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers, eggplant or spaghetti squash.
Stay hydrated, especially in the hot summer months, by drinking plenty of Water and avoiding juice, soda, sports drinks and alcohol.

I have to bring her back every once in awhile...
Just got done watching "Extreme Weight Loss". I always feel so inspired when I watch that show. This lady was about the size I was when I had surgery. She was 290 and I was 294. She got down to 149 and then gained 32 pounds back in 3 weeks!!!! She eventually lost it but so scary how she gained it back so quickly. I know it would take alot for us to gain that much weight back in such a short time but still...... I felt her pain. She had such emotional problems. I could relate to her so much. The pain she felt from her past. The pain I felt when I would aways turn to food as a child because I always felt abandoned. Long story and I won't go there but it made me cry. Made me want more than ever to get off this last bit of weight and to exercise and be healthy!! I'm glad I have this tool to help me but my WORST nightmare would be to gain back this weight. Chris made her wear a back pack with all the weight she had lost ( 109 pounds) and hike down the Grand Canyon. I know it had to be so emotional for her. I just wanted to break down and cry when she took that weight off her back when she made it down the canyon. WOW.. I just can't stress enough how blessed I feel. Even with all of the problems I have right now with my back, GERD, Bile Reflux, Gastritis... Still... I never want to feel the way I did at 294 pounds.. the lady below was so sad and broken. I have to look at her every once and awhile and remember and not to go back. Then... there is me now....

This is my third long post on my journey so far. Probably should have been a blog, but no time to keep it up! Thanks for hanging in there with me!


“If you work at something with total commitment for a really long time, you will succeed.” 8th grade runner, in newspaper story.
Such a simple but profound statement from a young girl who set out to change her life by running. A statement that has come to define my journey.
I gauge my progress by non-weight goals. Yes, I do weigh in every morning. I do love to see the scale go down. But my real excitement comes not from the number of my weight, but from the increasing quality of my life.
The time I started trying on all my clothes and ended with a totally empty walk-in closet!
The first time I walked a mile in 20 years!
Sitting in a seat in a plane and not touching the person next to me anywhere!
The first time I felt a lump, thought it was a tumor and realized it was a bone!!!
Walking out of Coldwater Creek—a store I had always longed to shop in--with a bag full of clothes!
I feel like I have been let out of a cage. I am excited about life every single day. Even the hard days.
Joy, empowerment, potential…these are the things that keep me on track. However, every outcome involves a journey, and there are a few essential tools that keep me focused. You’ve probably heard all these before. Even if you have, when you start doing these things yourself you’ll feel like you’ve made a terrific discovery you want to share with the world!
Here, then, are my tools for success.
1. My Fitness Pal… Except for the time when my life was consumed with taking care of my dying sister, I have tracked every bite I’ve eaten almost every single day. This has been the most valuable thing I’ve ever done. Why have I stopped losing? I’ll look back over the last month or so. Oh… I see I’ve added in a couple of tablespoons of Peanut Butter a night. Could that be it? Oh… I see that a greater proportion of my daily calories is coming from carbs. Could that be it? Knowing that no one will see it but me, I am completely honest. You can download it for free for your smart phone or computer. If you don’t have one, just track somewhere! Track everything!
2. An honest assessment of my eating habits and problems… You may want to read my old post, “Sneaks, Snacks, Sweets and Lies… “ I posted this when it first began to get hard, and it seemed to resonate with a lot of people. I continue to live by this each day.
3. Protein. I HATED the protein regimen when I first started it. Now, I love to have my Protein Drink almost never miss a day. You know those delicious Starbucks Mocha-Frappes? The ones with about 500 calories? Well, I figured out that the ingredient that gives it its flavor is espresso! So now I go to Starbucks every few days and get 6 shots of espresso, straight. Into the blender goes ice, 2 shots of espresso, Water, maybe a little coffee, and chocolate Protein powder. I top it off with a little real whipped cream! 150 calories and low carb! Yum!!! I have energy for hours, and believe it or not, espresso has much less caffeine than real coffee!
4. Mostly Low carb diet: Once upon a time I craved carbs every 20 minutes or so. Now, I long for them but don’t crave them. The difference is huge. Craving: Addiction. Longing: Eh… that would be nice, but I can do without. If I eat heavy carbs, I crave them. If I begin my day with refined carbs, I want them all day. I don’t obsess about them, but I am careful about them. If I want a couple of bites of baked potato, I have it. About once a week I have a McDonald’s vanilla cone. But toast for Breakfast? Hash browns and French fries? Cookies and chips? If I eat these things for a couple of days, I feel poisoned, and I don’t lose weight. If ever I get seriously off track—and I have—for an entire month at a time, I know that to get back on track I first have to cut out the carbs. Then it gets to be easy again.
I made a commitment to myself. If I was going to undergo major surgery, with all its potential risks, I was going to totally commit to the process. If I never reach my personal goal—and with as much as I have to lose, it’s possible I won’t—it won’t be because I didn’t give it my all, for as long as it takes.
The last thing I want to share with you in a separate post is dealing with food addiction. Watch for it soon!
Hope this helps!

Please stop and do the math.
People get completely freaked out by what I feel are unreasonable expectations. They fly into a panic. They assume that the first time they don't lose on the scale that their loss is done. They think that two weeks at one weight is a massive stall. They look at other people's large losses and forget that we don't all lose at the same rate.
First - if you did a pre-op diet you are not going to have the same loss your first month as someone who didn't do one. Your pre-op loss should get counted into your loss calculation if you did a pre-op diet.
Second - a stall is three weeks or more at the same weight with no fluctuation. Are you panicked after that? Well, my friend coops once spent twenty one MONTHS at the same weight. She finally broke through and never regained during that time, and even lost two sizes while not budging on the scale. Is it the miracle cure you may have been hoping for on the scale? No. But stalls are not the end of the world. They are certainly more normal that flying to goal in six weeks, I promise you.
Third - losing anything more than a pound a week is good. Are you eating less than ever before? Yes. Does that guarantee you'll lose faster than ever before? No. I had two nine week stalls - no movement except upwards for my monthly cycle. I had months where I lost but only in the tenths of a pound. It's not normal to expect a big loss every time you step on the scale. It's setting yourself up for disappointment.
Fourth - your pattern is your pattern. You can compare yourself to other people sleeved the same day or with the same stats but it doesn't matter. So much of this is individual. So if you're constantly seeking out other people and comparing your losses to theirs, you are eventually going to discourage and frustrate yourself.
Fifth - are you closing in on goal? We all lose even more slowly the less weight we have to lose. So if you only have sixty pounds to lose but shed thirty in your first three months, please don't be hysterical because you're "only" losing a pound a week now that you're past the halfway point. It's normal.
Stop. Breathe. Do the math. Adjust your expectations. This is not a race. You do not get a special award for reaching goal more quickly. Your surgery was not pointless or worthless if you manage to get to goal in two years instead of six months. The real goal is not losing the weight. It's keeping the weight off. That's real success - that's what we're here to do. It does not matter if you hit goal in nine months or two years - the real challenge and the real journey begins with maintenance. How quickly or slowly you lost does nothing to change the challenges you'll encounter there.
I am not ranting at anyone in particular. I just feel that this is an issue that comes up constantly and it's actually pretty silly for people to fly into such a panic without really thinking. I've seen folks upset when they're logging losses of upwards of four pounds a week. Point to the diet that helped you accomplish that and was easy to maintain prior to surgery.
~Cheri

Normal? I guess it depends on the person...
I've not tried to eat a whole slice of pizza.
Though I'm sure I could! (I'm nine months out)
But at seven weeks out I'm sure some can and some can't and some don't.

I have a 17 year old daughter... And what can I say, it's a selfish age. You are expecting something that she is not emotionally mature enough to give. Put that with the frustration I'm sure she feels because you are having it first??
Perfect storm! 17 year olds want everything now! Now! Now!!
I know that knowing these things doesn't necessarily make it easier for you though...
Don't stop what you are doing. Tell her you know how she feels, and you are not going to leave her behind. But you will need her help when you are recovering, and after you heal, you will be there to help her after she gets her surgery.
Don't expect this conversation to go well.. But know that she will be listening and have faith that she will come through when you need her.

I have been maintaining since Feb, but recently had a small regain that kinda messed with my head. My goal is 158 and try to stay under that, but really due to the daily scale bounce I kinda consider 155-160 my goal range. Then, when I saw 163 on the scale I about had a heart attack. Combine it with the fact that I am not working out in the gym, but doing summer activities instead, I am not quite as "dense" and my fitted jeans feel.. snug. That all made me feel icky and unattractive even though i knew that it was small and really only noticable to me.
So, i went on a business trip last week and saw someone I haven't seen since August. He didn't recognize me and definately gave me the "once over" with the eyes and the "wow you look great". It was like the boost i needed since I often eat too much and wrong things on business trips. It was a reminder that I haven't gained 100#... I have gained just a few pounds and i can fix this.
So, this morning I weighed in at 159. Thank goodness!
Anyway, this maintenance stuff is hard because i keep having the feeling like it could just all slip through my fingers. I am seeing a counselor and her advice on the tiny regain was to just "be okay with it" for awhile. I followed her advice as best i could which did avoid the whole stress/guilt eating cycle.
I can't be relying on people to keep giving me the "wow " speech to keep my motivation up I know that - but it was a boost that I sure needed this week.

Started at 449 and now down 162 pounds. I love my sleeve and I named him Bernard.

My urologist and lead doctor on my prostate cancer treatment was a major cheerleader for cancer. Even when treatment showed vast improvement he only gave me 2 years to live, (that was in 2009). My cheerful attitude seemed to bother him and he did his best to turn me depressed. I can still remember his Bela Lugosi face telling me that cancer was sure to kill me. He was not in favor of my WLS either saying it was "too hard on the body". I thought, "What do you care, Dracula, a fat corpse or a skinny one, what's the difference to you?"

God knows my check-out time.

*Disclaimer- If bodily functions make you sick, don’t read this post. Otherwise, read on. Prepare to be sickened and (hopefully) amused by my traumatic experience.
On Saturday afternoon my husband and I went to Granite City Brewery for lunch. I ordered the beer cheese Soup, and a lemonade. I had a few sips of the lemonade then gave the rest to my hubby so that I would stop drinking plenty of time before my meal came. Those few drinks of lemonade made my tummy a little sore, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
My beer cheese soup came, and it was delicious. I ate most of the cup of soup (minus the croutons.) I was feeling decent, until I started getting a sharp pain in my sides. I’ve had this pain before, so I didn’t think too much of it…until the sweating started. I’m a heavy sweater, but this was more like I was *raining*. I tried to ignore it, and told myself it was just humid in the restaurant.
After the bill came, we went to the mall to get my dad a gift bag to put his Father’s Day gift in. That only took a few minutes, and then we headed back to the car. When we sat down in the car, my husband looked at me and noticed how sweaty I was. To be polite, he said “It’s pretty hot out, huh?” I replied, “It’s hot, but it’s not THIS hot. I don’t think my lunch is agreeing with me.”
We started out towards home, and within a few minutes the cramping started. My abdomen felt like it was folding in on itself. The sweat began pouring off me even harder. I was literally dripping with perspiration. “Are you okay?” my husband asked me. He must have noticed the tiny, pained grunts I was making and the deep breathing. “I’ll be fine,” I said, gritting my teeth through the nausea.
The drive home was about a 15 minute drive. The whole time I found myself thinking “Just a little further, just a little further.” About 10 minutes into the 15 minute drive, I felt movement in my abdomen. I knew what that meant…my bowels wanted to evacuate. I clenched all my internal muscles and prayed to anyone that might be listening to please, please let this feeling pass. My husband kept glancing over at me with concern on his face. I knew I must look horrible.
I held on tight until we got to the exit ramp off the interstate to our suburb. That’s when a cramp ripped through my abdomen like a knife, and everything let go. I mean everything. Before I knew it, I was yelling “Oh s**t, oh s**t!” as a torrent of explosive diarrhea was making its way to freedom. My husband worriedly asked, “Are you going to throw up?” I cried, “Quite the opposite, actually!”
“PULL OVER!!!!” my husband screamed.
I pulled the car over on the side of the ramp, and got out as quickly as I could. The whole time, the mantra in my head was “Please don’t be on the seat, for the love of god don’t be on the seat.” (We have a new 2013 Ford C-Max) Mercifully, nothing was on the seat. However, the moment I stood up outside the car the mess began to run down my legs. I ran behind the car to try and hide from the passing traffic. My husband scrounged up some napkins from the glove box, and I desperately tried to clean up my legs. In a cruel twist of fate, I was wearing a white sundress. The back was soaked through with brown, foul diarrhea. To put the icing on the proverbial cake, this fecal matter smelled worse than any human feces I have ever smelled.
My husband emptied out the Hallmark shopping bag we had gotten at the mall, and I put it down on the back seat of the car. I wrapped my stinky, soaked dress around me so it wouldn’t get on the seat and sat down on the plastic bag. My husband took over the reigns and drove off towards home as quickly as I’ve seen him drive. “I smell like a barnyard!!!” I cried out in humiliation.
In record time we were home. I ran into the house as quickly as I could, feeling another cramp making its way through my bowels. I tripped and fell on the stairs in my haste, nearly bowling a confused and startled cat over in the process. I managed to make it to the bathroom in time for another torrent of horrifying excrement.
I spent the better part of an hour in the bathroom allowing the last of the demonic diarrhea to exit my body. When it was all said and done, I put on my pajamas, put a heating pad on my belly, and fell asleep on the couch. My husband was polite enough not to bring up the incident and to let me sleep.< /p>
And that, my friends, is what we call Dumping Syndrome (also known as “The Most Humiliating Thing That Has Ever Happened To Me”)

I started crying this morning when I saw this!! I can't remember weight below 200!!! Maybe 15 years ago before I got pregnant with my second daughter and tomorrow I will be 6 months post op !!!!

Why does "why" matter so much? And who here is going to judge you for not being strong enough to do it on your own and having 85% of your stomach cut out? Isn't this why we we all had it done? Wasn't it the last resort for most of us? i proved I can lose 50 lbs without weight loss surgery, I did it preop and I did it years before. what I can't do is keep it off on my own. the sleeve gives me the advantage now. I won't let anyone tell me i'm weak or took the easy way out because that's simply ignorant. Don't let anyone (or yourself) tell you that either.
We're YOUR people and we get it, so keep us around maybe!

Shelby,
My story is different from yours, but my conclusion was the same. Why, How? I actually grew up with 2 obese parents. My mother was the master of (what I call) 'Fat ass' Southern cooking. She was a stay at home mom most the time, and I can remember her taking a 9X13 cake, cutting it into quarters (there were 4 of us, my parents and 1 sister) and we would all sit down with a fork and eat our 1/4 of a cake. If we didn't eat it all, my father would readily finish what we hadn't, so we would all typically finish our 1/4 in less than 15 minutes. That was just my childhood, my sister and I were chubby as kids, but she 'grew out of' her weight when she got braces and said food was too painful to eat, and I grew out of mine in high school as typical adolescent teenagers do.
My sister put her weight back on in college, and my parents took off quite a bit, my mother has kept most of hers off now, by doing Adkins when I was in my 20's. My father has always yo-yo'd with his weight. I was very slim through my early twenties until I moved from Thailand where I'd been for 5 years to Wisconsin to get married. The weight readily and quickly piled on as my lifestyle changed drastically, pre-packaged food, sedetary lifestyle, SAD (seasonal affective disorder), and LOTS of beer and cheese (Yay Wisconsin!). A long divorce 4 years later, moving back to AZ and a new marriage to a man who was also morbidly obese saw me tipping the scales at 265.
I saw my mother have to go through a triple by-pass, and she is on high blood pressure and cholesterol meds, my father has an enlarged heart, has had a heart attack and stints put in, he also has bad knees and is on a slew of meds, my mother in law who is also morbidly obese is practically home bound, and the final straw was when my sister told me her cholesterol was so high her Dr. advised her to stop breast feeding her youngest and get on a statin before she had a stroke or heart attack.
I personally have no medical issues, in fact I thought it was funny my Dr. would always say to me 'you are in very good health for being as big as you are'. I was a very happy fat person, my husband is still a very happy fat person. However, the light bulb went off for me-I AM NOT INVINCIBLE-! I may have been healthy and big, but if I kept down that road...it would probably be a short one.
I had done many a diet, my love-hate diet was Medifast. I HATE the taste of artificial orange ANYTHING because of that diet. I had been round and round with diets that didn't work for 6 years. Then I read an article. I wish I could find it so I could link it here, but the article was about how people who have more than 100 pounds to lose and then actually do lose the weight, without surgical intervention, only 3% are successful. :/ 3%?!?! I couldn't believe it...or maybe I could. Would I ever be 3%? I didn't think so. In fact, I know not so.
When I started to research WLS I started out thinking I could get the band, then have it removed after a few years...but reality struck me, no other diet had ever worked, what made me think getting a band losing weight then having it removed would work? The more i researched the more I found that talked about the horrors of the band and how it could erode etc. I always thought by-pass was way too invasive, but then I found the sleeve.
I found this forum especially to be helpful, I really enjoyed reading about people that were researching and just starting, but then I began to read about the veterans also, and I discovered that I really could stick with the sleeve. Yes the first few weeks and months suck, liquid stage, pureed stage, mushies, soft food, but as I got further and further out from surgery, I loved that I didn't and still for the most part don't have hunger anymore, and that I don't have food cravings anything like I used to either. I am 8 1/2 months out, and this is the best thing I've ever done for myself. You can and will eat ice cream and chips again, but you will eat them in moderation. You will eat star bursts and French fries, and you might even enjoy them, but thankfully, you'll probably never enjoy a super sized Mc Donalds fry with a quarter pounder and a huge coke again. This is a good thing!!
I feel very zen about the why. I am not bothered by it like I was at the beginning. I don't mind much if people know I had the surgery, if they want to judge me, so be it. I am still horrible about exercise and know I would be much closer to goal if I did. I have Cookies or chips or some cake now and then, but I don't eat 1/4 of a 9X13 anymore I hope reading my story makes you realize that even though all of us have come from different diverse back grounds, we are all here together. Maybe we will never know why, maybe we were just given a bad lot of genes, maybe not...but the main thing is we are all here now having this journey, travelling it together. PM me if you would like an extra cheerleader on your side Congrats on having the sleeve, welcome to the losers bench, and don't sweat the small stuff, you'll get through all of the food stages, you'll drop the weight, and you'll be that skinny girl you've always been on the inside

Thanks for posting. Will watch impatiently for your next post! The obit for your sister brought tears to my eyes.

karen well............whats done is done
can't chanage the past
you just had surgery???
few weeks out???
are you at the point where you are allowed some type of solids???
if you shouldn't be eating any solids
please stop now
no offense intended
if you are allowed solids - please stop now
you just had major surgery
tummy needs time to rest and recuperate
i know you will try not to do this again, right
i can see you are determined to lose your extra weight
sounds like you only had a "teeny bit" but, knock it off
say with me "I won't do this again" "i won't do this again"
eventually you will be able to have chips et al if you REALLY want to - but remember everything is in moderation
having paid $12,000.00 for WLS - hopefully that will give you motivation to stay on program
good luck bud
kathy

I am slarthing some natty Peanut Butter on em. Good find.

Hi my little buddies,
I wanted to update my progress. I am actually doing very well. I crossed my legs for the first time last night since 2004, NSV. I was so proud. Everyone has given many compliments. My kids look at me funny because I don't really look like their mom.
I've been exercising since pre-op but at the moment I'm doing Elliptical 40 minutes in the morning and walking 30 during lunch. I was walking 3-4 miles a day and had to slow down due to Achilles tendonitis. Feeling much better with that.
I'm eating 3 meals a day with 2 Snacks a day. I try to eat 200 @ meal and 100 @ snack time. I'm eating 20-30 carbs a day and average 800 calories a day.
Things I eat:
Deli turkey
string cheese
boiled eggs, love these
tuna
all meats and fish except chicken, ouch! Usually can only eat 2 oz at a time
Hummus
salad, ranch dressing
green Beans and spinach, etc.
SF popsicles and Jello w/SF whipped cream. Yum!!!
hot chocolate, SF
Just started eating 1 oz walnuts for a snack
I'm only losing about 2 lbs a week now. I can tell my body is readjusting. I have lost a bunch of inches, not sure of total. I know I've lost 10 off waist and 9 off hips. My blood sugars are still amazing and I'm so thankful. I just took my blood sugar after dinner and it was 94. Yahoooooo!
I am having one continuous problem though, I constantly have to remind myself to slow down eating. I do get full before I eat my required 3 oz of Protein but it is so hard to slow down my eating. Bad habits sometimes are hard to break. I am working on it though. Another problem is seeing myself as thinner. I don't feel as thin as I am. I now weigh 246, but some days still feel 324.
I work hard on this journey and love every minute of it. I, as I'm sure most of you, have always worked hard at slimming down but had always had a force pushing against me. I now know I have a tool that is on my side and we're working together to make my life better.
I wish you all the best of luck and would love to encourage anyone that has questions or fears about the sleeve. Please don't hesitate to message me if you need any help. I am far from knowing it all, but would like to help in any way I can.

I would still say I have pretty great restriction. I can eat more now at over 2.5 years post op than I could at even a year, but I still cannot eat a lot. It all really depends on food choices that dictates how much I can eat, which I know we can all relate too. I also have about the same level of hunger as earlier out. I get hungry if I haven't eaten for a long period of time, but it is not the same gnawing hunger with a rumbling stomach that I got before surgery.
I agree with Cheri about the all or nothing approach and talked about it a little on another thread. Instead as looking at the sleeve as an opportunity to make lasting lifestyle changes, people, for lack of a better word, crash diet. Sure, it might get you to goal quickly, but it is not sustainable over the long haul, just like it was not sustainable before the sleeve. I never took that stance. I decided to make changes that I could live with for a lifetime (limiting processed carbs...white stuff, Protein first, no drinking with meals, etc). I believe in the 90/10 or 80/20 approach. Eating healthy most of the time, but allow yourself some wiggle room. Personally, I knew I could never go the rest of my life never having ice cream with my kids or having a piece of cake at a birthday. But I don't keep those types of food in my house because I do not need to be eating them everyday. And with this approach I was maintaining for almost a year before I started a new medication that caused me to gain 7 lbs in 3 weeks without any dietary changes. I stopped taking the medication and I stopped gaining, but the way I was eating has been enough to once again maintain but not lose. Thus why I have chosen to try the 5:2 method to shed the pounds to get back down to where I was.
I also have read that you can start to produce more Ghrelin several years after surgery which could account for more hunger. Whether that is true or not, I am not sure and since the sleeve is still really in its infancy, I think there is a lot more research to be done.
I cannot see that you would have a problem down the road if you maintain what you are doing. If you can look at yourself and you regiment and say that you are happy and you feel it is honestly something you can do for life, you will be rocking it 20 years from now! You have made it a new life and have chosen to make permanent changes you can be happy with and sustain.
In all honesty, our downfall is ourselves. Allowing old habits to creep back in, becoming more slack, and not making lasting changes is what results in weight gain for most people (of course, ruling out the medical), not a mechanical problem with the surgery itself.

TES
Thank you so much for that article! I have been so confused and this explains everything!

TES
Thank you so much for that article! I have been so confused and this explains everything!

MAKING THE DECISION…
So far, I’m down 142 pounds. This website was so important to me that I swore I would regularly post. Well, last August my beloved sister began to die, and I spent almost every moment with her from then until she died in my arms on December 28th. She was the most beautiful, vibrant, inspiring person I’ve ever known, and someday I will just write about her journey, because it is a story definitely worth sharing. If you are curious, you can read about her at dinner, and honestly, even that had become more difficult. I was at a place where eating was interfering with my ability to eat!
For months, I ate every meal like it was my last meal. I went through the motions of getting approved for the surgery, all the while believing that I would back out in the end. I searched the internet for stories that would convince me I was better off in a wheel chair. Instead, I learned about the sleeve, and found this website. Rather than tales of regret and woe, it was full of stories of success, determination, and victory. For every fear, there was a reassurance.
I searched you-tube for videos of miserable people. I found happy people instead. People on a journey.
But while I believed it could work for them, I didn’t think it would work for me. Nothing had EVER worked for me.
I was convinced that sugar was the glue that held me together during the hard times. I worried that I would just go flat-out crazy without food to sustain me.
I was terrified I would die in the surgery.
I was terrified I would fail, just like I always had.
I was terrified I would resent everyone around me.
I was terrified I would feel left out at celebrations, and that I’d never want to entertain again.
No one—I PROMISE YOU—no one, ever wanted to have this surgery less than me.
On September 12, 2011, I went to see the weight loss surgeon. It took me 20 minutes to walk approximately 80 yards into the doctor’s office. I had to stop and rest twice. And then, the stats: My weight at 5’3” was 367.8. My blood pressure was 168/95. My blood sugar was 395. On all accounts, the highest numbers ever. It wasn’t the sickest I’ve ever felt, but it was what I consider to be the unhealthiest day of my life. The surgeon just looked at me and shook his head sadly. The guy who saw fat people every single day was looking at me like I was a hopeless case!!!! It was one of my worst moments ever.
It took months to get approval and to be scheduled, taking me through the holidays. The night before my surgery, I was alone in the house. Without warning, I burst into tears, and I howled with fear, regret, and resolve. I cried like someone had died. The next day, I went to the hospital still uncertain as to whether or not I’d go through with it. I couldn’t believe I was actually doing it, right up until the moment they gave me happy juice. But the day after that? That day, I woke up knowing that the time for fear and regret was gone. The time for hope had arrived. That day, my new life began.
Look for my next post, “The Process” in the next few days. Here's a self-portrait, taken in despair in a dressing room, before I embarked on the "farewell food tour," about 20 pounds below highest wt.

I agree with everyone else. Although I'm dealing with the same issues about my body and towards myself - I've also opted to not put myself out there yet so coming from me - you've already won half the battle! You've most yourself out there and met someone, that's the first step & truly that's commendable.
In my opinion, if he is worth any of your time and intimacy - he will listen to what you have to say and be considerate of your insecurities. Everyone has them. You should be open about the surgery with him for you, not for him and him alone. But, this is obviously stressing you and not being open with him about it may inhibit the relationship from growing. I also think it is better for him to know now before you really invest serious feelings in the relationship. If he really likes you as well, he will see you for what you are, not your insecurities!
Good luck & congratulations on the weight loss! That's fabulous!

I've dated a couple girls with WLS. They told me on the first date, it's no biggie.
If the guy is only concerned about your body, he's a crappy catch anyhow.

Bottom line is if he likes you none of that will matter. If it scares him off well it's better now than when you've developed strong feelings for him later. You're doing amazing! Congrats on your continued success!