VSGAnn2014

I hear you, Babbs. I thought I was through at size 10. Ha!

Love it! Love it!

This is exactly what I'm doing. I've been maintaining for about 4 months, so I'm still journaling. So far (knock on wood) it's working great. I wind up eating more treats on the weekend than during the week. And it balances out. So far. (Knock on wood.)

So sorry you two have to deal with this situation. Sending you thoughts of strength and peace.

I'm a "situational ethics" kind of girl. There are few behaviors and decisions I find to be universally righteous or sinful. (Funny words, those.) Just as with all other behaviors and lifestyles, it depends on the people, the society they live in, their families, their friends, their intelligence (intellectual and emotional), their patience, their style, and their luck. I simply don't think I could pull it off. For one thing, this would be a deal breaker for my husband, whom I adore and cannot imagine living without. He'd leave me. Plus, it would wound him horribly. And I would destroy the life I love. But all that has nothing to do with the OP's decisions and actions. Everything that happens to her is on her.

LOL!

Sounds to me like you're scared of something. Sounds to me like you're working awfully hard to hurt others before they hurt you. It is past time to seek counseling and find an even keel. Living only for yourself is just as unhealthy as living only for others. And it will eventually rebound on you -- you'll try to even the scales and wind up punishing yourself.

If you have 20 pounds to lose but "can't" lose it you're not doing something right. It doesn't matter if you lose 20 pounds with phentermine or not. How are you going to maintain it without phentermine if you don't change the way you're eating / exercising long-term? You can't kick this can down the road. Figure out what you need to be doing long-term to maintain your weight loss permanently and start living that lifestyle today. Otherwise, you'll soon be 40 pounds away from your goal.

Plastic surgeons I've heard speak (and consulted) say they won't do any plastic surgery on someone who isn't through losing weight and hasn't maintained their weight for at least a year. So based on that, you've got quite a while to go before getting any boob surgery. And based on my experience, your boobs and every other part of your body are going to go through so many more changes by the time you're through losing weight. Three months post-op doesn't bear any resemblance to how you'll wind up looking by the time you hit goal.

Based on my experience, get ready to lose some more weight. And when you stop losing weight, be prepared for your body to keep shrinking. This freight train has a lot of momentum behind it. It's gonna take a few miles to stop.

Star Jones hasn't gained 80 pounds. Read some more tabloids. Or not.

I was gobsmacked that in this day and age people thought they were posting on "the private, confidential Internet." Just astonishing. I don't post my pix here or anywhere because I decided long before being sleeved that I was going to remain on the down low about my VSG surgery. Hence, my fake name and no pix.

Nope, nobody fat-shamed me. But I hated being fat. I was embarrassed about it. Felt so disappointed in my inability to resolve my struggles with obesity and deal with it. I certainly didn't need "feedback" to know I was fat, unhealthy, and miserable. And it wasn't like I wanted to live like that. Duh.

I challenge anyone here to tell us that ANYONE -- a single person they know -- lost weight using diet medications and has kept it off. I know hundreds, literally hundreds of people (myself included) who lost significant amounts of weight and who gained it all and more back. Every single time.

Not sure how you get the idea "people only lose 5-10% of their excess weight." You're not reading the same boards I am. I lost all all my excess weight in less than 9 months. I've maintained at my goal for the last 4 months. I'm down 95 pounds now from where I started -- at 235 pounds. I've had no complications. I had surgery when I was 68 years old. My life has changed 1000% for the better. I'm sorry your doctor is so unhelpful.

I think in our retirement we should all return to a hippie lifestyle. That's my plan.

Primates! It's hard to civilize them.

Well, first of all ... here's the deal: This is the Internet. You should google what that means. Also, on this message board all members are allowed to express themselves, as long as they follow the rules of the forum. And I think you just violated a forum rule with your name-calling. Finally, I don't think this is the right place for you. You seem so fearful. Yet here you still are.

Go for it! Do what makes you feel good! Nobody's the boss of you!

When I drink, I usually drink wine -- typically 3-5 ounces of wine. I just checked my MFP menus and saw I've had wine on 3 on the last 7 evenings. Pretty moderate, I'd say.

To the OP ... What you don't know from all your "research" is whether the anecdotal complaints you've seen online were posted by people who took their prescribed vitamins / minerals or didn't. In fact, you know very little about what anyone has done based on their self-reports. People exaggerate about their "good behavior." Here's another thing I've come to appreciate and accept during the last two years (one year pre-op and one year post-op): Everybody's body doesn't operate the same, and it's a real mistake to assume you got the same standard-issue body someone else did. The diversity of our bodies is immense -- some people never get cancer, have more stamina, have stronger muscle fibers, etc., than others. I figure there are countless ways in which our bodies vary. So AvaFern's experience (or my experience) in no way predicts what your experience will be. And our experiences shouldn't give you any comfort at all. On this board, you're just reading anecdotal reports (not doing any actual research). Therefore, your best bet is to actually follow all your surgeon's advice about supplements post-op and to never miss a blood panel test. I don't consider my surgeon's advice about either of these things to be optional, but mandatory.

I was just about to type what Babbs said. At 3 weeks out I had explosive diarrhea after every Protein shake. That didn't last forever. We go through so many post-op changes and phases. (I can just hear the folks 5 years out going, "Yeah, you just wait!")

Good show! We learn, we adapt, we grow.

Elode, I know someone who died last week after falling and hitting his head on a table. Boom! Dead! The potential of fainting / falling isn't a minor annoyance and shouldn't be ignored. But you're a nurse and already know that.

Not saying what others should do, but in maintenance I do eat some brown rice (it's a whole grain), some Pasta (as a treat and when I feel I need to gain some weight -- yeah, that can happen early in maintenance), but very rarely white potatoes, which just don't appeal to me post-op.