VSGAnn2014

Well, if you're working out a lot more recently, don't you think most (all?) of those four pounds gained are new muscle? Sounds to me like you're beefing up (in a good way). How are your clothes fitting these days -- same? Tighter? Looser?

I agree with Babbs. I'll add this thought. What and how much you should eat and drink will depend on how large your maintenance calorie budget winds up being. And that's a function of your metabolism, which depends on how and how much you exercise, your muscle mass, height, age, how much you fidget, your ancestry, your gut flora, your macronutrients, other things, and the luck of the metabolic draw. What one person can tolerate, another may not. We each must mindfully observe the choices we are making and how that affects our weight.

Wow! Educational thread. Didn't know a lot about blood clots. Thanks for the stories. FYI ... I didn't have a blood filter, nor did I take / do blood-thinner shots post-op.

Oh, my gosh! Thanks for this story, Kindle.

Nope, it's not you. It's him.

I’m 18.5 months post-op and maintaining pretty easily at 135 pounds. But about two weeks ago I posted on another thread that over the last 8 months my affection for dark chocolate had gradually changed from a treat to a daily need. About a year ago after reaching goal I started having a square of dark chocolate occasionally, usually on weekends. That progressed over the months to eating two squares daily. In the recent two months I’d graduated to four squares daily. When four squares no longer seemed enough, it didn’t take a genius to figure out I had to cut that habit in the bud. During my Year of Chocolate, my hunger for carbs in general had gradually risen. I have always tracked all my food in My Fitness Pal and knew what I was eating and how much. Happily, I was maintaining my weight pretty painlessly, but it was taking a greater effort for me to hold strong to my daily maintenance calorie levels. My two-step program to deal with this was: 1. I got all the chocolate out of the house. I put all of it in a sack and stored it in the garage, where it’s cool enough that the chocolate won’t melt. And I didn’t eat any chocolate at all for almost two weeks. 2. Remembering that “stomach acid mimics hunger,” I decided to switch back to my old post-op PPI antacid (Protonix) temporarily to see if by lowering my stomach acid I could temper my growing appetite. Well, my program has worked! I haven’t eaten any chocolate, and don’t crave it at all. And using the PPI for a week has also worked – my general appetite is now lower. In fact, I’m now having a little trouble eating all my daily maintenance calories. But that’s a problem I can deal with. Maintenance is interesting. Stay mindful. Stay optimistic. Stay creative. Stay in charge of your food and your meds.

Serendipitously, a friend of mine is going through this right now -- the loooong week of passing all the kidney stones. She has also rapidly gained weight, has a very distended stomach, has been in agonizing pain, and is just exhausted. After seeing her today, I can sympathize even more with you, @@CowgirlJane .

My very humble opinion is that those calculators are for s**t. They're produce nothing more than the average number of pounds lost by some people whose weight losses were entered into the application when it was built. It's garbage in, garbage out.

Congrats to you!

Yes, context helps. Sometimes when I post here I have a lot of time to craft what I'm going to say. But other times I just dash off a reaction that is influenced by how my day is going and how much (or little) time I have to think about the OP or the thread. @@Chrystee -- I certainly wasn't being dismissive of your concerns. Frankly, I don't even remember your concerns right now (without looking back at the OP), nor did I even remember when I saw the turn this thread took in the last page or two that you were the OP on this thread. So to offer you some context ... yes, my husband really is amazing. He and I have been married for twenty years. I'm luckier than I ever imagined I'd be to wind up with someone like him. I'm sure I just typed my response to you out of the recurring sense of joy I have about our good fortune, which has never left me since I met him 20 years ago. And here's some more context ... he's husband #2. You want to know what husband #1 was like? He left me because I got fat. Specifically, explicitly, for that reason. The night he left, while he was kicking the **** out of me (I was curled up in a ball on a closet floor protecting my head with my arms), he was screaming over and over: "You're fat and I don't love you anymore!" And then I was single for 15 years. And then my wonderful hubby #2 came into my life. I'll offer a little more context for those who think my short post to Chrystee meant that I'm an a*****e. Do you know why I have time to write this long post right now? Because my husband's cancer has returned (he was first diagnosed with cancer two months after my VSG surgery), and today he's at the cancer clinic all day getting another round of chemo. The first round (three weeks ago) almost did him in. I didn't take a shower for 10 days, because I couldn't leave him alone. I probably typed that short response to Chrystee during that time. And yes, he is the dearest man I've ever known. He is a wonderful husband who has loved me through thick and thin, fat and slim. I am so grateful for him coming into my life I can never say it enough. I wish everyone had a sweet, loving husband like mine. And, Chrystee, that includes you.

Best wishes for a perfect surgery and an easy recovery. Break a leg!

Jeez, I had forgotten about so many of these awful regimens and drugs! One diet I did twice (and lost tons of weight on) was "liquid protein" back in the 1970s. It came in big plastic bottles and was made of horses' hooves / hides ... ugh! I lost tons of weight. But as with all super-low-cal diets, my metabolism plummeted. And as with all super-low-cal diets, when I went back on "real food" my eating habits hadn't changed at all. Coupled with my lower metabolism the weight came rushing back on. Yes, diets don't work.

Wut?

Out of curiosity, how old is your daughter?

First of all, welcome. Second, you're funny! And smart. I'm glad you're here. Third, you're going to be OK. You're just going on an adventure that has a very happy ending. Yes, there will be a few tough days in the beginning. And yes, you'll learn how to eat and drink differently and better and slower. And all that will change. Many times. (There are many phases to this whole dealio.) But you'll be encouraged because you're a data-hound and, obviously, social media savvy. There's so much data available to you and so much support available to you here and elsewhere online. I don't suffer from anxiety, so I don't know if this post is helping at all. But if you could go ahead and translate your anxiety into excitement, that'd be great.

Amen to that, @@Inner Surfer Girl ! Here are some more black/white thinking from my world. * "She didn't compliment my new outfit. It must look awful." * "I didn't finish everything on my to-do list today. I won't ever finish this project." * "I snapped at my husband today. I'm a terrible wife." Even though I'm a pretty confident person, I still find myself thinking s**t like this every once in a while. I had these kinds of thoughts much more often a few years ago when I was 100 pounds heavier and sidelined from much of life. Today I'm much more likely in these situations to: * ... think my friend must have a lot of her mind today and tell her how nice I think she looks. * ... realize I'll finish the project if I just keep plugging away at it without exhausting myself. * ... apologize to my husband for snapping at him and tell him about the pressures I'm feeling that made me be rude to him. (Thank goodness, he's a sweet man and always forgives me!) We and our lives won't ever be perfect. Therefore, if there's anything we should do "constantly," it's to pivot quickly toward the light -- not the dark.

What a GREAT success story! Congratulations. I hope to be able to brag about HALF of your major successes on my second surgiversary this coming August.

People who are currently and formerly obese say a lot of destructive things to themselves. This happens so often that we stop noticing what we're doing. For instance: "I am constantly feeling like I am doing stuff wrong. I get so upset over it." Yes, these are expressions of real emotions and deserve to be aired and explored. But they are also actual instructions we give to ourselves that teach us how to feel and how to behave. Below are other negative self-talk I have heard myself and others voice online and, I'm sure, in our heads: * I can't do this. * This is too hard. * I can't do anything right. * I'm a failure. * People don't like me. * People don't admire me. * I am unworthy of love. * I don't like myself. * I hate myself. Research about human behavior tells us that our own thoughts precede and shape our future actions. Hope and acceptance beget better self care. And better self care is what we're all trying to improve and put into practice here. The Internet has hundreds of sites suggesting daily affirmations that could be useful. Some of them seem a little goofy, but others seem helpful. Just google "affirmations."

Oh, man ... that's powerful, Dub. Well done.

Congratulations, @@Bill Good ! You've rocked your sleeve. It's amazing what patience, consistency, and simply following instructions can achieve, eh?

I'd say that "falling below expectations" (which he set by using a photograph that doesn't match his current appearance) was probably a big factor in your response to him.

You are doing GREAT. I just wish you knew how GREAT you are doing. Seriously. Keep at it. Every day. You will lose all your weight. I think your eating plan is fine. (I ate a lot like you and lost 100 pounds. Am maintaining at 135 now for months and months and months. )

deleted ...

Everyone is entitled to bitch now and then. Bitch away.

Among all my family members, only my husband knows. I had ZERO interest in having all those conversations with my *opinionated* family of origin.