VSGAnn2014

I'm almost 13 months post-op. My meal-time volume limit is is 3/4 to 1 cup of food. My dense (meat) Protein limit is 3-4 ounces. I always try to eat that (or most of it) first. Makes a big difference! In order to get in all the calories I need to stop losing, I am now eating more Snacks than I once did. I try to include some protein in those snacks, e.g., cheese, yogurt.

She's a jealous bitch. She wants what she won't work for. Ignore her. Oh, by the way, she's so wrong.

Jeez, I dunno if I'd want to have been in that room. "Skeletal." Hmmm. That's an interesting choice of words. What's your weight in the photo of yourself taken above?

This is a weird, weird trip. At least, mine is. I thought I was done at 150. Then at 145. Then for the last few months I've kept losing very, very slowly, even while eating what I think is a lot for me (as close to 1700 cals as I can get down). Then last week I hit 141. And over the weekend I came down with a roaring intestinal bug and by yesterday morning was down to 138.8. So I ate really hard yesterday and am back up to 140 this morning. Whew! But yesterday I kept looking in the mirror and thinking ... "Hmmm ... this is a new look, and it's not so bad. Hmmm." Jeez. I'm more fucked up than I thought. @@CowgirlJane and others who've been maintaining for a long time ... I wish you would chime in here and comment some more on this topic. Is this just "another phase" of WLS? Does it go away (for most folks)?

If I'd seen that couple you described, I know that I also would have been repelled by their appearance, odor, and the contents of their shopping cart. I don't think we feel single, simple emotions at any given time, but rather a mix of them. A big emotion I'd have felt in that situation would have been fear. At my heaviest I weighed 235 pounds, but I was still nearly immobilized. That fear of losing access to a good life was pretty terrifying. Seeing that couple would have triggered my fears. I'd also have felt disgust, sympathy, curiosity, and schadenfreude. I'd have had the same feelings pre-op. Most of those reactions would have been the hard-wired reactions primates have to outsiders and outliers. My point is that many of our emotions aren't rational, but instinctual. So rather than labeling my or others' feelings as "ugly," I'm interested in becoming more aware of and mindful of what I'm feeling and then exploring what that means about me and for me going forward. I'm 100% socially responsible for how I behave around others (calling them "Obeast" is beyond the pale!). But I don't know that I want to or that I even could regulate my feelings. This is a great topic. Thank you for bringing it up. But it's a complicated subject.

Do you think it's possible that your bad eating habits might have anything to do with this post you made less than two weeks ago: "ppl are such prudes lol drink up ull be fine im about 6months out and i drink more now than i did before surgery and im fine lol well everything is fine so far since i STILL cant eat as much " http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/339715-call-the-bariatrics-police/?p=3932473

I had that when I started losing weight -- for about 4-5 months. I haven't had it for at least half a year. It seems weird to me that it would just now start happening. Let us know what your doc says about it.

This is not a support group, as some of you define that term. Yes, it offers support. But it's really just a message board on the Internet. The Internet has many, many thousands of message boards about many thousands of topics. This is just one of them. Some message boards are non-profit, and the board's costs (for the board server, software licenses, etc.) are funded by the owner or its members. This one is a commercial enterprise that invites advertising and generates revenue for its owners. @ is right (see her post above). You can change your name and change your avatar. That will make it impossible (going forward) for anyone looking at this site in the future to know who you are -- assuming you don't post enough personal info about yourself to let close associates identify you.

What @@wannaBthinsoon said.

Some of y'all are married to some seriously large assholes. You can call 'em "challenged" or anything else if you want, but they rate high on my assholery scale.

Seriously?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You thought this was a confidential site? Jeez, John.

LOL!

Yeah, no. This isn't normal. You might have a stricture (twisting) of your stomach, making it hard for food to get through. Time to see your surgeon again.

I cannot possibly believe you are "done" losing weight. Do not listen to James. I know he's had a lot of success. But if you're like me, things like he said have a way of sticking in my brain and screwing me up. (Your experience may vary, of course.) I think you can reach your goal. Yes, you need to do something different. So try what Babbs said. If that doesn't work, go the other way. If that doesn't work, try a third way. Very best to you.

Your ticker says "56 pounds lost. 36 lbs. more to go." Tell me again why you're depressed? But if you're intent on becoming un-depressed, make a big list of all the reasons why you're losing your excess weight and what you want to do now that you're no longer obese. And start checking things off. Your future happiness will come from what you do with your healthier body. Not how fast the scale moves.

My surgeon's office has NEVER failed to answer the phone. Likewise, no one there I've ever left a phone message for has EVER failed to return my call. I think your surgeon's office has a real problem.

I'm 69 years old, weigh 140-143 pounds, have been at this weight for 4 months, and average 1,700 calories a day. I walk most days, but am not a gym rat. There's one datapoint for you. (And I know how much I eat, because I log ALL my food / drink into My Fitness Pal every day.) Ignore anyone who tells you how much you should eat to maintain. They have no idea. You have to find out for yourself what YOUR maintenance level(s) are. Good luck.

I agree. IMHO, the foods it makes more sense to minimize or avoid foods that are highly refined, high-sugar, and laden with sodium/preservatives. And no, my daily menus aren't 100% "clean." But they're better than they used to be. And I'm learning more and applying what I learn. For instance, the more of my food I cook from scratch, the more nutritious / less toxic my food is. In other words, I'm buying and eating less food packed in boxes, bags, cans and plastic. Gee, what a revelation, huh?

Uh ... my team / education did suggest that veggies / fruits / whole grains (eventually) are important. Around 4-5 months I was edging up toward 5 veggies and fruits a day. They included colored vegges, e.g., green Beans, tomatoes, squashes, blueberries, apples, oranges, melon, mango, etc. At that time I also started aiming for 21 grams of fiber daily (the minimum for women - for men it's 25 grams). I wouldn't drink fruit juices - that won't provide ANY satisfaction and liquid calories. Post-op, the point to eating is not ONLY to lose weight, but to learn how to eat more healthfully. That worked great for me.

I say, stop with the Cereal.

Jeez, lighten up. It's a message board, not the E.R.

I'm a year and 2 weeks post-op and have been at or below my weight goal for 4 months. The only food I was told never to have again was carbonated drinks. After a miserable experience with Diet Coke a few months ago, I learned my lesson -- I'm done with sodas. I was warned that early on post-op some foods might stick or give me trouble, so I was encouraged to reintroduce new foods one at a time and, preferably, at home until I saw how my sleeve would react to them. I was encouraged to minimize or avoid "slider foods" -- highly processed, calorie-laden, unnutritious foods like Cookies, chips, ice cream, white-flour crackers, cakes, and a number of other foods that start with the letter C. (Weird that, eh?) I was also encouraged to minimize white potatoes, white rice, and white-flour pastas. In fact, during the losing phases I was encouraged to avoid high-carb foods of all kinds. Now that I'm on maintenance, I eat three meals a day and usually two nutritious Snacks between meals--just as I did during the losing phases. I still choose to minimize slider foods, most of which are grazing foods anyway. BTW, I don't graze, which is the cause of much weight regain for many WLS patients. I also don't drink my calories -- except for a 4-ounce glass of wine most days at 4:00 pm and sometimes a glass of skim milk before bedtime. I don't drink sweetened drinks of any kind or any fruit juices. I choose nutritious foods of all kinds and eat a lot of lean meats, colored veggies, whole grains and whole grain breads and crackers (but not much), skim milk, full-fat cheeses, whole grain pastas (rarely), seeds and nuts. I also allow myself some high-carb, high-sugar treats, but only occasionally and not big portions. These include ice cream, dark chocolate, and a taste or two of hubby's Desserts, but I don't do this very often, and I'm monitoring my behavior carefully on this front to make sure these don't turn into trigger or problem foods for me again. I have one coffee skinny latte before Breakfast. Although I'm moving away from Protein shakes, for the last year I've had a Protein shake for breakfast most mornings. I eat out a lot in restaurants and have no difficulty navigating menus. I still love food, maybe even more than pre-op, because I eat slower now and chew better and savor the taste of food, not gulp it down like I used to. I still love wine as much as ever and still drink it -- life's too short to live without wine. That's how I eat post-op. And so far, so good. I weigh every morning and count my calories and macronutrients in My Fitness Pal, so I know what's going on -- intake and outcomes. I'll probably plan and track my food for the next year at least.

LOL! This thread again. The OP's complaint is a perpetual complaint. Always will be. You can't fix the Internet. Believe me, I know. I've tried.

I started seeing a shrink two months pre-op. I will see him for three years: The year of losing weight (I already did that and have been maintaining for 4 months now) The year of maintaining my weight The year of boring real life. That's my plan. So far, it's working.