Peggy 53

Wearing panty hose and crossing my legs.....

Great topic on this thread. I hadn't really processed it, but I too feel guilty if I think I'm eating too much when clearly it is such a small portion compared to my pre-op days. I get full, like I'm supposed to, but even that is a whole new experience because before full happened only after at ate half the refrigerator ( ok a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm sure y'all understand my drift) . I have yet to experience 'physical' hunger. I eat pretty much because I know i have to get the Protein in. If it wasn't for that, I'm sure I'd just graze along with a bite here and there cuz my head does say...have some if that.
As for the comments on the nutritionist, that is clearly someone who has no idea who compulsive eaters are and what food/sugar/carb addiction is all about. I highly doubt she'd tell an alcoholic to have beer when their drink of choice is vodka. I know a lot of my trigger foods, and I have to be careful with some fruit cuz it triggers too. I have a whole list of " bet you can't eat just one" because I can't - sleeve or no sleeve. I have got to keep it clean, lean and mean. I've tried moderation, and that doesn't work for me. I did a lot of work with a therapist before my surgery.
I was reading a study today that commented how we choose our words.... If we say we can't eat something, there is a greater chance that we will eat it. Whereas if we say I don't eat something, there is a greater chance we won't. This was a study done with a bunch of college students and the outcomes were surprising. But it makes sense. The feelings of " I can't " leave me feeling in this place of self punishment. I can't go out, I can't eat pizza, I can't drive a car.... But to say "I don't" has a different visceral response. Ok now I think of the snooty girl who looks down her nose, that sense of entitlement. I don't wear polyester, I don't eat sugar, I don't drink tap Water, I don't eat Cookies. One is like a "poor me" syndrome, while the other is a sense of self care and personal entitlement. Granted the snooty girl can be a B$$ch, but if done honestly it sets a personal boundary that someone else just can't get thru. Ya, the first dietician would tell us we could eat popcorn in week 2.... Oh, my belly hurts thinking of eating it now. She was an idiot. I have a much better on now who get it.
Ultimately we have to know ourselves and be honest with ourselves. Tallyho

As an alcoholic friend of mine says, "that's why there is more than one brand of beer in the world!"
I am relating my experience in criticizing a nutritionist who could suggest everything in moderation to a compulsive eater. Hey, if the advice to eat everything in moderation works for you, that's great.
I've been trying that for 40 years, and haven't been able to master it yet. While my sleeve restricts the amount I can eat, I am starting to see how people eat around their sleeves. And this is just too important to me to screw it up.
For me here is an example: I recently added sugar-free chocolate Fiber bars to my daily Snacks to try to up my Fiber intake. And I am suddenly finding that I am craving things like ice cream. So, is the sugar-free chocolate a trigger for me? Too soon to tell, but I may have to give these up lest I go off the deep end and wallow in slider foods.

It sound like you have a couple of good alternatives there. I think the most important thing is choosing something that will keep you motivated, and working out on a regular basis.
You need a program that will both accommodate your unique needs due to the surgery, and at the same time push you to do your very best. The most important thing is to avoid injury. Since you haven't been working out, this means that at first you will do more reps at a lower weight than you will do later on. If you work with a trainer and they aren't willing to recognize that you've had the surgery and that your caloric intake is severely limited, you need to find another trainer.
The next most important thing is to be in a program that you can stick with. You need something that motivates you to keep with it month after month and year after year. For me personally, I enjoy going to a gym and working out the way I want to, when I want to, at the pace I want to, etc. I've been doing this for over 20 years. Other people need the motivation of classes or the guidance of a trainer. Whichever of those works for you is fine, as long as it keeps you going to the gym.

Wearing panty hose and crossing my legs.....

Keep this coming...I'm taking notes. I have yet to start at the gym. I know I should at 6weeks out. But I've been debating on joining the standard gym..circuits, etc. or joining an impact fitness gym that relies more on total body muscle challenge and switching up the routine routinely with a trainer. Love this discussion!

There's another element to it as well. I'll use bodybuilder terms for this one.
When you are building muscle, you are in what's called an "anabolic state." And when you are losing weight, you are in what's called a "catabolic state." According to everything related to bodybuilding that I have ever read, you can only be in one state or the other, never both at the same time. The only exception to that is what bodybuilders refer to as a "fat beginner." According to bodybuilding materials that I have read, a "fat beginner" can build muscle and lose fat at the same time if they work out very hard, if they've never worked out much before or not in a long time, if they are substantially overweight, and if they have a moderate calorie deficit (150 - 500 calories per day deficit). I think that the calorie deficits that we have as sleeve patients puts us out of that range.
Bodybuilders usually go through alternating cycles. First there's cutting where they try to have a small calorie deficit and they workout less where they are trying to lose bodyfat, followed by a period where they eat more calories than they need, and workout more to try to gain muscle. This is called bulking. (Many amateur bodybuilders screw up this stage and overeat too much and end up gaining back all the fat they lost during their previous cutting stage.)
Usually bodybuilders do cutting and bulking cycles of 2 - 4 months each. I'm thinking of my sleeve journey as being a 12 - 18 month cutting cycle.

Typically, lifting on a calorie deficit such as that will not enable you to "build" muscle. However, lifting during a major calorie deficit (along with sufficient Protein consumption) will help you retain the muscle you do have. Then once you start getting closer to maintenance calories on a daily basis, you'll be able to add muscle and build strength. When you have the clearance from your Dr to begin lifting, it's important to get in there and lift 2-3 times a week, but start out light and slowly build up gradually. This will let your body know that you still need your muscle during this weight loss phase and your body will use more fat for energy and less muscle. You'll hold onto your muscle a little better than you would by not lifting during the major weight loss phase. Just my humble opinion through my own experiences and the bit of reading that I've done. Good luck!

Wearing panty hose and crossing my legs.....

There is a difference between lying and not talking about it. I told only a very select few and to the others I said nothing. I agree about having to stealth with everyone else's opinion as well as those who then put you under the microscope. I have known many who used the gallbladder story then later said they just decided change their eating habits...stay away from the "complications" line cuz nosey people want to know the details. Keep it simple.
But I do like the 'anal fissure' hemorrhoid story line... That's precious!

What do you get when a bunch of VSG folks have a few glasses of wine and hop into bed with each other at a WLS Conference? Well, you get THIS!

Okay, i'll take this a bit at a time:

I believe BtB was referring to the thread directed from the pinned thread at the top of the Rants and Raves forum. http://www.verticals...e-for-everyone/

Yep, I went straight for the general forum rules - which still technically apply. However, I give credence to what has been written at the top of the Rants and Raves section and understand why it has been put there. In my defence, my rant is not a personal one. It is not in reply to a specific post and I don't believe it would prevent anyone from airing their questions in the general forum. Fundamentally, if people have noticed it and found it to have a 'personal' effect, it has obviously resonated on some level?

Madam, you are a relative freshy here at VST, so you have not lived through the highs and lows of the dozens of other threads which have addressed this topic over the many, many months. This gets to be quite a heated topic and the moderators are quite passionate (rightly so) about it.

I am fresh here, with fresh eyes and being the person I am, am unlikely to get embroiled in the misconstrued too-ings and fro-ings and flaming sessions which occur over what were originally innocuous posts. Primarily, it's not my style and as I have publicly stated, are deeply unhelpful. I do find it interesting, however, that despite the familiarity with the forum rules, that they tend to involve a lot of the people who are, themselves, considered 'well established' on the forums. ​

The fear is that someone who is on the fence about something they are struggling with will not post because they are afraid of getting a response such as this.

This is not a response. This is an independent observation, in a completely unrelated thread, which directly deals with those who see fit to dress up the most benign issues as life-threatening events. They, themselves, need to show due courtesy to those who genuinely require advice and support.

Not everyone has the same background or personality. Some are meeker and more sensitive whilst others are more straightforward and bold. The moderators are trying to create an environment which is conducive to all.

Agreed and yes, they are absolutely right to do so. However, I repeat that this is a separate thread, is not a specific attack against one person and is on a page designed for it. However, if people find that as a consequence of stumbling across my ramblings, they are going to stop posting; then I draw you to my previous comment: 'if people have noticed it... have...obviously felt it resonate on some level?'

I totally understand where you are coming from. I just came back from taking a several month break from the site and within a day I was getting flamed when a member only posted a picture of chips. I didn't understand the point and was direct. Everybody then climbs on me including several people on this thread who are agreeing with your post. We are the most dysfunctional family I have ever seen here at VST, but we do need to try to work together.

You're absolutely right, we do. However, I concede that if people want to make self-indulgent posts, the test of how people feel about it, is in the responses it attracts. On that basis, I offer the same measure for this post, too. As for the thread involving the picture of the chips, I read it. As is too often, it degenerated into a deeply-unhelpful flaming session which benefitted no one. Ergo, if I'm going to make a statement, I make it off thread, non-personal and, I hope, relatively measured - if not dressed with a modicum of sarcasm and humour.

Don't be afraid to take a break once and a while. It does me good, perhaps it can work for you, too.

Thank you for the advice, sincerely. I'm glad the break did you good - if albeit you were straight into a flaming session on your immediate return. I think I'm okay at this juncture. Whilst I'm a lady of leisure, it happily passes some time and usually proves amusing and well natured. Be assured, however, the moment I start taking people out personally or get embroiled in 'thread-spats', I'll be sure to get some therapy - if not a piece of pizza!

I only took one week of vacation from work. Counting the weekends I was back to work on post op day 10. Told my coworkers I took a "stay-cation" . I'm almost 6 months post op and I have lost about 65 lbs. I tell people I've lost about 50 lbs. tracking my food on My Fitness Pal. High Protein, low carb and 1200 calories a day. Early post op when I went to lunch I had plain yogurt in from of people (dumped half of it out before they sat down!) I'm a nurse in a surgical area and we do lots of bariatric surgeries. I hear how judge mental my co-workers are so I had surgery somewhere else. Nobody's business.

Tell them you are having vaginal rejuvenation. That will shut them up. Ha. In the mean time, I have said I am having a hernia repaired. I am. So that is not a lie. I finally told my dad the truth today. He was under the impression that the lapband was "safer". I told him. We are good. He is supportive. Phew.

Almond milk has on 1 gm of protien in 8oz....it is ok to mix with a high Protein dry mix

I would say you have probably been overeating. I did the same thing. It takes time to figure out when you are full. If you sneeze, get a runny nose, or hiccup these are cues to stop eating. Don't eat one more bite......this occurs because the vagus nerve is irritated. It's not the end of the world but it is your first clue to stop. It took me a little time to figure this out and you just want that last bite because you can't believe your already done. So it is very easy to do. I would also feel like my food was clear up to my throat and if I burped it was going to come up! The thing is it takes a few minutes for this sensation to happen before you realize you are full. Eat slower, chew really well and make it small bites. After a few minutes reevaluate if it feels like you are approaching fullness. If this is the case then stop. In a couple of more minutes you will feel completely full without over doing it. The diarrhea you are talking about is that because you were eating something sweet? If so, that could be dumping but that usually occurs rather quickly after eating it. This hasn't happened to me so maybe someone else can advise you a little better on this one. I hope this helps and good luck!

I am such an over achiever
I swear I always feel like the rules don't apply to me hahahah. You know, because I'm "special"... Now I just need my cape and helmet.
Ok, ok, slow down. No gulping. Sip sip sip. I can do this. Even if I do have the patience of a gnat. Do gnats have patience?

Do whatever you need to do to get through this journey. Trying to cover your tracks can be tricky. How about not saying anything at all? It has worked well for for me. The only people who know about my surgery are my husband on one of our sons. For me, I'm just a private person and never talked about my medical history or very personal things. It's just not who I am.
For work, unless someone asks, don't say anything. Legally, you don't have to disclose to HR anything other than medical issue. If someone asks how you are losing weight say "working really hard at it." Or how much have you lost? (a very rude question in my opinion) say "a bunch."
There are ways around it without lying. You just need to remember that just because you are asked a question, does not mean that you are obligated to answer it. People will get the idea that you do not want to discuss it. Some may persist, those are the ones that whatever you tell them, they will tell someone else so don't hesitate to shut those ones down. If someone keeps asking me I will look at them and say "boy you sure are asking a lot of personal questions." They will usually get embarrassed and say something like I was just curious and my reply is "yes, I can see that." It will shut them up.
What I am saying is don't be bullied into telling people things you don't want them to know, just because you are asked a question don't mean you owe them an answer. Then you don't need to keep any stories straight.
Getting sleeved and losing weight is not the easy way by any means. Do whatever you need to succeed. Sometimes though, we over think things and they can be quite simple. For me, closing down the conversation before it gets rolling has worked for me.
Good luck in whatever decision you make!

There is a difference between lying and not talking about it. I told only a very select few and to the others I said nothing. I agree about having to stealth with everyone else's opinion as well as those who then put you under the microscope. I have known many who used the gallbladder story then later said they just decided change their eating habits...stay away from the "complications" line cuz nosey people want to know the details. Keep it simple.
But I do like the 'anal fissure' hemorrhoid story line... That's precious!

Love this---great suggestions! I don't know if this will help anyone, but I put everything in MyFitnessPal.com....and at the end of the day if I don't get all my Protein in, I grab a glass of milk, cheese stick, or a bottle of Premier Protein to make sure I have met the Protein requirements.......80g....and I have a ton of energy....so if someone is lacking energy and not getting their protein in, you may want to work on that.......still tough to eat more than 1 or 2 ounces of solid food at a time.....
I think it gets easier every day....I'm with the OP, though.....still would love to chug some Water at the gym......but it's coming along

When will you love your sleeve? When your worst enemy and your secret crush cant stop staring at you...