Fluffnomore

This is part of the mentality you need to fight early on. You are really, most likely just fine. Protein drinks are still counted as clear liquids and will do what you need. My liquid diet was 5 days prior, two weeks of clear liquids, followed by a month of full liquids. At 6 weeks I was able to add purees and soft foods. You can do this.

Don't worry too much. You might have it for a long time. I still do and I'm almost a year post op. It's like clockwork though…when it's done in the morning, it's done all day. Another long time poster and I refer to this as poop soup.

I'm 5'5" and hourglass. Currently in a 10 jean, 12 dress pants. Size L on top (big boobs!) I never thought below 10. When I was in college and at a good weight, I was around a 10. I still want to lose about 15 though, and that might turn into an 8. I honestly don't know yet!

Carbs are not the devil. I ran a marathon in my 20s and I completely remember using it to justify eating like a pig! LOL. And for us the carb loading thing was social more than anything. I do crossfit and I run, usually 3-5 easy miles. On those days, sometimes the day after I am a little more lax about how many carbs I eat. If I were to train for a marathon again I think I would probably take the same attitude. I rarely work out more than an hour now, so even when it's hard I don't have to fuel during it. And I rarely make a point to fuel before if I have eaten well that day.

This is really normal. A lot of us had this happen and all I can tell you is that it will pass.

It also might be stomach acid. You should ask your doctor for a PPI.

I will cook a small roast (top round or something like it) and use it for a few days. Rotisserie chicken, definitely. I like Krave Jerky. Roll up lunch meat. I'm also a big fan of ordering a meal in a restaurant, like an omelette, and then getting two or three meals out of it. Usually I eat out with my family and then I just hit off the styrofoam containers. There are a lot of great salad mixes out there now, some that even come with their own dressing and fixings in the bag. They only need a little Protein. Also Target and our grocery stores sell smaller prepackaged chef and cobb salads. They're reasonable, calorie wise, and easy to carry around or stock in your fridge.

It all depends. Some people really can't stomach the sugar, but many of us can. My advice, for whatever it's worth, is that it's a little early to worry about what you can or can't "ever have again." You need to think through what your triggers are, and how you handle junky eating in general, now while you are recovering. If sugar is a trigger for you (meaning it sets off a chain reaction in you and you have to have more) then I'd put off testing your sleeve with it as long as you can. Most of us have a little list of things we can or can't eat without discomfort. Sugar is okay for me, but it doesn't trigger me and there's not really a lot you can have when you are limiting carbs. It's just not a good choice in general. At 10 months out there are few foods that I can't tolerate, but my way of eating has changed significantly.

And depression is pretty common around this point as well. You have lots and lots of hormones racing through you at this point. You may well be emotional, angry at your loved ones, and feel slightly out of control. It will fade.

I think it's wise to follow the instructions, especially in the first few months. The trick is to find the right combination that works for you. I have a friend who swears that when she moves away from less than 800 calories and more than 40-50 grams of carbs she gains weight. She reached her goal very quickly. She also gets very hungry. She never works out, either. My own personal experience is that when I'm very hungry, I'm on edge and miserable. So my approach is more moderate. And after the first 6-8 months everyone has to figure out what works for them. I spent months 3-6 figuring out which dense Proteins I could eat (all, really) and reincorporating things like salads and berries. Now at 10 months out I have a much more balanced and intuitive approach. If I really want a yogurt, for example, I just track the carbs and go for it. I let my body dictate that it wants more carbs after a heavy workout day. And I try really hard to stop when I am done. But also to realize that this is just one choice and one day at a time.

I'm a big fan of leftovers. If I go out to dinner, I have the second half (or third, depending) for lunch the next day. Other non-cooking ideas: rotisserie chicken, refried beans with cheese, deli meat, protein shake or pudding, steak, omelets. I'm lucky that I can eat most things but boredom has never been a huge issue.

The thing I have noticed since beginning CrossFit last year is that the difference between barbell/weight work and machine work is vast. For example, I finally got moved from "squat to a box" to "squat to plates" yesterday. Immediately, losing those 2 inches meant that my squat weight max dropped from 125 lbs to 80 lbs, while I have to build THOSE muscles up and learn to support myself even more. The machines would probably just allow me to build up the weight amount without building up the functionality. Interesting article.

I am careful with what I eat and I track everything but I would never call it a diet. The tracking is for my information only and helps me stay focused and grounded. I did stop tracking for a week when I went on vacation and I maintained/lost a tiny bit that week. I know people who have done really well limiting themselves and being incredibly strict and focused, and people who have done well with some of the above responses (I eat whatever I want, just less) and I don't think anyone can judge from the outside which approach will work. I have taken a moderate approach. I don't call anything off limits unless it makes me feel physically ill. I exercise hard, about 3 or 4 times a week. I lose a little more slowly than some but (despite my ticker, which I can't seem to change) I am about 13 pounds from my personal goal at 10 months out. I actually adjusted my official calorie count up recently with the aim of not eating back my calories when I work out. In other words, just calling it 1300-1400 calories rather than having my goal as 1200 calories and eating more the day of or after exercise. Strangely that has taken some pressure off. I have yet to eat up to the new amount. Who knows? I think I do better mentally with just a bit of slack, but that's me.

Well, I think this is life, isn't it? There are days I really hate sitting and being still with myself because I start to think about all of the ways I am a failure. That unpaid bill, that project that is sitting over my head, my laundry room being a disaster, that uncleaned closet. My avoidance techniques include reading compulsively, and getting out of the house. I have to be very careful these days with some of the old standbys: cooking an elaborate meal, drinking wine with friends. Not to say they don't ever happen; I just have to be careful. I have my days when all of my negative feelings are focused on the weight loss journey and my "lack of success" or at least my not going as quickly as some others…and that threatens to swallow me up. I also have days when I can actually understand in my pea brain that I'm doing okay. Overall I think the hardest thing is being both gentle and responsible with oneself. Somehow, I never learned that as a kid or young adult, and that has been something I have had to learn in the second half of my life so far. There are good days and bad days. The best days are the ones that I can honestly say to myself, "Today? That went okay." Neither the high nor the low. In other words you are in good company. One foot in front of the other, my dear.

I'm finding this really interesting. While I certainly had lots of disordered or "bad choice" eating habits, I live with someone who has some real eating disorders. Sometimes (mostly in the past, I grant you) I read posts from others that talk about how if we can't admit we had an eating disorder that forced us to the point of surgery, we are in denial. For me, I think it was more that I *was* in denial about my eating habits. But like CGJ I was also hungry all the time. Strangely, in times when I was sick I completely lost the physical hunger. And I would say, at 10 months out now, that one clear difference in my world is that the physical hunger is much more under control. We all have to figure out what works, right? I know that I spend maybe more time thinking about food and cooking and meal planning than most people, even now. Part of this is what my life is: I have an obese and ED husband, an obese son, and a not obese but highly sensitive, tending-toward overweight teenaged daughter. There are family-wide habits that I am struggling to break for everyone, and I think I accepted (too much) that everyone's weight and eating habits were strictly my responsibility. We are all working now to come to terms with what it means. As my time goes on, though, the biggest help for me is that while I will always love food, it is so much easier now to see it as fuel rather than a pleasure center. So, for me, I don't know if counseling or reading would help what I am struggling with. It might help those around me. It's all up to what ultimately works for each individual.