Kindle

So it's very obvious the new newbies want nothing to do with hearing what successful WLS patients have to say. The recent debate over the the eating bacon 1 week postop makes it perfectly clear that what they want is for someone to tell them it's OK to be stupid. They are not interested in listening to their surgeons or nuts or veterans. Self sabotage is the new fad and compliance is apparently out of style. I made the mistake of responding to the post when, as a veteran, I should have known better. Turns out I'm just a big meanie (no surprise there!) At this point it's 95% newbies posting on that thread who don't have a clue what the long term repercussions of eating off plan so soon will lead to. The blind leading the blind.
Oh well. It will be interesting to see the stats of successful EWL go down over the next few years as more and more unprepared, uncommitted people continue to have WLS. In the meantime, I'm outa here. The newbies won. As hard as it is to tear my eyes away from the car wreck, I just can't take anymore people that do stupid shit and then whine about getting their feelings hurt. Someone PM me when the grown ups start joining again.

So glad to see you! Come out and play.....I've missed you.

So it's very obvious the new newbies want nothing to do with hearing what successful WLS patients have to say. The recent debate over the the eating bacon 1 week postop makes it perfectly clear that what they want is for someone to tell them it's OK to be stupid. They are not interested in listening to their surgeons or nuts or veterans. Self sabotage is the new fad and compliance is apparently out of style. I made the mistake of responding to the post when, as a veteran, I should have known better. Turns out I'm just a big meanie (no surprise there!) At this point it's 95% newbies posting on that thread who don't have a clue what the long term repercussions of eating off plan so soon will lead to. The blind leading the blind.
Oh well. It will be interesting to see the stats of successful EWL go down over the next few years as more and more unprepared, uncommitted people continue to have WLS. In the meantime, I'm outa here. The newbies won. As hard as it is to tear my eyes away from the car wreck, I just can't take anymore people that do stupid shit and then whine about getting their feelings hurt. Someone PM me when the grown ups start joining again.

Blood work (chemistry panel, CBC, folate, B12, D3, iron/ferritin, and calcium) at 3, 6, 12 mo this and annually thereafter. @@gina171 it's always a good idea to keep your will updated. I don't have kids, but I do have pets that I need taken care of. As well as a house, property and investments. I've had a will and living will since my mid 20's. It's easy to do and can save your family a lot of problems and heartache if anything happens, surgery or no surgery. Heck, you could be hit by a truck tomorrow. My best friend committed suicide with no will. Believe me, the estate and child support/custody stuff turned into a complete nightmare for his parents, ex wife, and kid. Death and grief bring out the worst in people. It's a lot easier with a will spelling out every detail.

I am single and live alone. I travelled to Mexico for surgery. Went shopping the day after surgery, I was on the 6th floor of the Marriot and I purposely walked up and down the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Drove myself home from the airport five hours 3 days postop. Returned to a driveway full of snow, which I plowed with my ATV. I fed and watered my horses, dogs and cats. I went shopping, did laundry, got a haircut, and was back to work within a week. Other than asking a friend to shovel a path to the barn I had no problems taking care of myself and house/ranch chores. Couldnt lift over 20 pounds for 3 weeks, but that was manageable.

Gee, thanks @@CowgirlJane my "strong, confident independent woman" persona can come off as "stubborn, cold hearted b1tch", but I'll take tough cowgirl, too
Yes, I answered this post from a physical support aspect. I don't typically think about the emotional/moral support aspect of things (because I'm so cold hearted). In general, I prefer solitude to work things out on my own, but in reality I have a loving supportive family just a phone call away if I ever need them, and friends that would be there in a second.

I am single and live alone. I travelled to Mexico for surgery. Went shopping the day after surgery, I was on the 6th floor of the Marriot and I purposely walked up and down the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Drove myself home from the airport five hours 3 days postop. Returned to a driveway full of snow, which I plowed with my ATV. I fed and watered my horses, dogs and cats. I went shopping, did laundry, got a haircut, and was back to work within a week. Other than asking a friend to shovel a path to the barn I had no problems taking care of myself and house/ranch chores. Couldnt lift over 20 pounds for 3 weeks, but that was manageable.

I LOVE those kinds of weekends....the best ever! And kudos to you for spending it on a young Arab. "Peppy Spooky Idiots" should be their actual breed name
We ran into a cinnamon colored black bear last weekend. The horses and dogs and us and him all just had a stare down about 50ft apart on the trail before he finally sauntered off. It's always nice when moments like that don't turn into a sh it show!

That was a very sneaky title to your post...I was waiting for the "but now....." So glad it had a happy ending!

I wouldn't have done anything different. What I did worked just right for me.....avoided those no-no foods, exceeded Protein and Fluid goals, learned to eat just until satisfied, not full, established new eating habits and a regular Vitamin schedule. I never did measure or track my food (besides Protein and water) because I knew I would never keep it up. No sense trying to implement a plan I would not stick to. Instead, I just taught myself to eyeball my portions and learned the limits of what would let me lose vs maintain vs gain. That turned into a new lifestyle I can easily maintain. Likewise, I knew I would not keep up with an excercise program so I never bothered with that either.
Basically, I would start doing now whatever you think you will be able to do forever and be very mindful of what foods you need to consume to lose weight vs foods that could cause weight stalls/gains in the future. Also make sure you have a plan in place for dealing with stressful events in your life. Those seem to be the trigger point for when many people start to regain weight. For me, seeing a therapist and getting on antidepressants was what I needed to help me cope since I refused to use food and alcohol as a crutch like I'd always done in the past.

So it's very obvious the new newbies want nothing to do with hearing what successful WLS patients have to say. The recent debate over the the eating bacon 1 week postop makes it perfectly clear that what they want is for someone to tell them it's OK to be stupid. They are not interested in listening to their surgeons or nuts or veterans. Self sabotage is the new fad and compliance is apparently out of style. I made the mistake of responding to the post when, as a veteran, I should have known better. Turns out I'm just a big meanie (no surprise there!) At this point it's 95% newbies posting on that thread who don't have a clue what the long term repercussions of eating off plan so soon will lead to. The blind leading the blind.
Oh well. It will be interesting to see the stats of successful EWL go down over the next few years as more and more unprepared, uncommitted people continue to have WLS. In the meantime, I'm outa here. The newbies won. As hard as it is to tear my eyes away from the car wreck, I just can't take anymore people that do stupid shit and then whine about getting their feelings hurt. Someone PM me when the grown ups start joining again.

I wished I'd known how easy it would all be. Luckily I was blessed to have no major complications. But even the preop diet, surgery and anesthesia, postop diet, stalls, diarrhea, Constipation, food intolerances, learning how to eat, eating healthy, being able to control head hunger, etc has been much less dramatic than most of the posts I read on these forums. Sure, it takes effort, but if you are committed and truly embrace the WLS lifestyle with a good attitude it is not that bad. The fun and exciting NSVs far outweighed anything negative I went through.
I also wished I'd known I would get gallstones so I could have had my gall bladder removed during my VSG.

Expect and prepare for the worst but Hope for the best. You likely won't be disappointed.

So it's very obvious the new newbies want nothing to do with hearing what successful WLS patients have to say. The recent debate over the the eating bacon 1 week postop makes it perfectly clear that what they want is for someone to tell them it's OK to be stupid. They are not interested in listening to their surgeons or nuts or veterans. Self sabotage is the new fad and compliance is apparently out of style. I made the mistake of responding to the post when, as a veteran, I should have known better. Turns out I'm just a big meanie (no surprise there!) At this point it's 95% newbies posting on that thread who don't have a clue what the long term repercussions of eating off plan so soon will lead to. The blind leading the blind.
Oh well. It will be interesting to see the stats of successful EWL go down over the next few years as more and more unprepared, uncommitted people continue to have WLS. In the meantime, I'm outa here. The newbies won. As hard as it is to tear my eyes away from the car wreck, I just can't take anymore people that do stupid shit and then whine about getting their feelings hurt. Someone PM me when the grown ups start joining again.

So it's very obvious the new newbies want nothing to do with hearing what successful WLS patients have to say. The recent debate over the the eating bacon 1 week postop makes it perfectly clear that what they want is for someone to tell them it's OK to be stupid. They are not interested in listening to their surgeons or nuts or veterans. Self sabotage is the new fad and compliance is apparently out of style. I made the mistake of responding to the post when, as a veteran, I should have known better. Turns out I'm just a big meanie (no surprise there!) At this point it's 95% newbies posting on that thread who don't have a clue what the long term repercussions of eating off plan so soon will lead to. The blind leading the blind.
Oh well. It will be interesting to see the stats of successful EWL go down over the next few years as more and more unprepared, uncommitted people continue to have WLS. In the meantime, I'm outa here. The newbies won. As hard as it is to tear my eyes away from the car wreck, I just can't take anymore people that do stupid shit and then whine about getting their feelings hurt. Someone PM me when the grown ups start joining again.

I never had any hairloss. Never took Biotin or used special hair products. Basically just exceeded Protein goals (60-80g/day) and took a whole food based Multivitamin.
But really, There's nothing you can do to prevent it. If it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. Hairloss is just your body's reaction to the stress of surgery. But remember, mental stress can do the same thing, so worrying about it may just make it happen. I never fretted about it because 1) there's nothing I could do about it anyways, 2) it's just temporary, and 3) I was actually looking forward to shaving my head and wearing funky hats. But instead my hair is longer and thicker than it's ever been.

So it's very obvious the new newbies want nothing to do with hearing what successful WLS patients have to say. The recent debate over the the eating bacon 1 week postop makes it perfectly clear that what they want is for someone to tell them it's OK to be stupid. They are not interested in listening to their surgeons or nuts or veterans. Self sabotage is the new fad and compliance is apparently out of style. I made the mistake of responding to the post when, as a veteran, I should have known better. Turns out I'm just a big meanie (no surprise there!) At this point it's 95% newbies posting on that thread who don't have a clue what the long term repercussions of eating off plan so soon will lead to. The blind leading the blind.
Oh well. It will be interesting to see the stats of successful EWL go down over the next few years as more and more unprepared, uncommitted people continue to have WLS. In the meantime, I'm outa here. The newbies won. As hard as it is to tear my eyes away from the car wreck, I just can't take anymore people that do stupid shit and then whine about getting their feelings hurt. Someone PM me when the grown ups start joining again.

I would have reacted the same as your surgeon. Why should he bother wasting his time if you are not going to do your part? Not to mention risking serious complications by eating bacon 1 week after having your stomach cut open along its entire length!

I would have reacted the same as your surgeon. Why should he bother wasting his time if you are not going to do your part? Not to mention risking serious complications by eating bacon 1 week after having your stomach cut open along its entire length!

So it's very obvious the new newbies want nothing to do with hearing what successful WLS patients have to say. The recent debate over the the eating bacon 1 week postop makes it perfectly clear that what they want is for someone to tell them it's OK to be stupid. They are not interested in listening to their surgeons or nuts or veterans. Self sabotage is the new fad and compliance is apparently out of style. I made the mistake of responding to the post when, as a veteran, I should have known better. Turns out I'm just a big meanie (no surprise there!) At this point it's 95% newbies posting on that thread who don't have a clue what the long term repercussions of eating off plan so soon will lead to. The blind leading the blind.
Oh well. It will be interesting to see the stats of successful EWL go down over the next few years as more and more unprepared, uncommitted people continue to have WLS. In the meantime, I'm outa here. The newbies won. As hard as it is to tear my eyes away from the car wreck, I just can't take anymore people that do stupid shit and then whine about getting their feelings hurt. Someone PM me when the grown ups start joining again.

Well I guarantee your weight gain is from Coke and wine and whatever other empty calories you are consuming, not from the steroids.
Once I was maintaining below goal I have stopped any regains immediately if I pop even 1 pound above my bounce range. 2 things have worked for me....
1) full on preop Liquid Protein "preop" diet. Three Protein shakes/day and unlimited leafy green veggies. At least 80g protein and 100oz Water. Usually only takes a few days of this to drop several pounds and to curb any carb cravings that have taken hold.
Or 2) go back to just protein and veggies. Still the same protein/water goals but my overall calories are higher and it may take a couple weeks to drop a few pounds.
If you cut out all refined carbs (including Coke, alcohol, Pasta, bread, rice, etc) and just go back to the same basics that helped you lose during those first 6-12 months you WILL lose those 40 pounds. It may take several months, but isnt that why we had surgery? To lose weight and keep it off? And remember You've got your sleeve forever. Let your sleeve do what it does (portion control) and you do what you need to do (make smart choices) and it will work.

So what and how much are you eating compared to when you were losing weight? That's what you really need to look at. steroids don't magically make you gain weight on their own. I've been on both prednisone and methylprednisolone for cervical stenosis and pinched nerves since my VSG 2 1/2 years ago and did not gain any weight because I still made myself eat on plan.
Basically steroids cause weight gain because of
1) Fluid retention, which can partially be controlled with a low sodium/high potassium diet;
2) increased appetite, which you need to still keep in check with mindful eating. Track and measure every bite if you have to.
and 3) decreased activity due to pain or doctor ordered restrictions. But in the end, weight loss and gain has to do what you put in your mouth, not necessarily how much you excercise.
Go back to basics. Lots of Water and Protein. Watch your carb and sodium intake very carefully. Try resetting yourself with a week or two of Protein shakes only or try the 5 day pouch test.

So it's very obvious the new newbies want nothing to do with hearing what successful WLS patients have to say. The recent debate over the the eating bacon 1 week postop makes it perfectly clear that what they want is for someone to tell them it's OK to be stupid. They are not interested in listening to their surgeons or nuts or veterans. Self sabotage is the new fad and compliance is apparently out of style. I made the mistake of responding to the post when, as a veteran, I should have known better. Turns out I'm just a big meanie (no surprise there!) At this point it's 95% newbies posting on that thread who don't have a clue what the long term repercussions of eating off plan so soon will lead to. The blind leading the blind.
Oh well. It will be interesting to see the stats of successful EWL go down over the next few years as more and more unprepared, uncommitted people continue to have WLS. In the meantime, I'm outa here. The newbies won. As hard as it is to tear my eyes away from the car wreck, I just can't take anymore people that do stupid shit and then whine about getting their feelings hurt. Someone PM me when the grown ups start joining again.

60-80g Protein, MINIMUM 64oz fluids and at least 10,000 steps/day were the only priorities I was ever given by my surgeons office. No calorie, fat or carb goals. Excellent plan as I lost over 100% of my excess weight and have maintained over 1 1/2 years,

So yesterday was the 4 year anniversary of my brother's death (just one of many holidays ruined for me). I always find myself soul searching and reaching for hope around this time of year so here's today's random ponderings......
I saw a documentary about Gloria Vanderbilt a couple months ago. I only caught the last 1/2 hour of it, but found it very moving. Despite her amazing success in the business/fashion world, her personal life was really quite tragic. Her first husband physically beat her, her next two marriages ended in divorce and her fourth husband died during a heart bypass surgery. Her son committed suicide in front of her when he was just 23 years old by jumping from her 14th floor apartment. She was standing just a few feet away. Her youngest son is Anderson Cooper, a successful journalist for CNN. He was just two years younger than his brother and was interviewed as part of this documentary.
There were two quotes from this show that really struck a chord with me. One was from Gloria...." It's only after you accept that life is a tragedy that you can start to live" and the other from Anderson...."You have to learn to live in the world without knowing the why"......That's the one I am personally working on now.
Anyways, I know this isn't directly WLS related, but I find their strength and success in the face of loss and grief to be inspiring and thought I'd share.