Babbs

Yeah. Be nicotine free 4-6 weeks before surgery.

Ha! You know, I just may just have to go completely dark from the Internet for a while. If I hear one more person asking me to give that walking, talking personality disorder a 'chance', I'm going to puke.

Yeah, I do that when I stall.

Be patient. Takes at least a few weeks to feel human again. Nobody said this was a walk in the park. Speaking of walking, try to a little. It really helps make you feel better and speeds up healing.

I have heard of some doctors prescribing it several years out for regain, but not to help get to goal, no. Look, people love to trash Phentermine on these forums, but I just look at it as just another tool in the fight against obesity. So what if there's several different tools needed to get there? If it's doctor supervised, I see no problem with it? I also find it extremely hypocritical that people who have turned to major surgery to lose weight can poo poo a weight loss drug. I've been maintaining my weight now for well over a year, but if for some reason I felt I needed to take these drugs to stop regain or take regain off, you bet your bottom I would.

@@jenn1 LOL. This is what I just posted in the "What do I do when I hit maintenance" thread. Timely. Well, and just to give you an idea how fast things can go south: I was towing the line really well around Christmas. Like staying the same weight within literally a half pound. I was so proud of myself! Then winter hit here in Boise. We got more snow in the last couple of weeks than we've gotten in literally 2 winters. @jenn1 can vouch. We were trapped in our neighborhoods, people couldn't get to work, school was closed for 6 days, and we were shoveling snow every couple of hours for a week straight. I was having to forgo the gym to take my son to work because his sedan couldn't get out of his subdivision for a week. Every time I would get enough gumption to go to the gym, I'd decided to not go because the roads were so treacherous. I figured shoveling snow would suffice. Between not going to the gym for almost 2 weeks, and a little comfort and frustration eating, I am up 3 pounds as of this morning. Just like that. The good news is I think there's a break in the weather, and I actually made my ass go to the gym today and I feel better But it will take me a month to get this off. Honestly. Life happens, but we have to learn to adapt and roll with the punches without it totally derailing our progress. This is the hardest part of the whole thing.

Me! I lost all my excess weight and have kept it off by eating on a schedule and eating every 2-3 hours. 2.5 years out, and it still works for me

Enjoy it. It doesn't last. I know, here comes little miss sunshine, lol. I did enjoy not being hungry for about 18 months, though. That's a lot longer than a lot of people!

That's cute. I'm going to start calling my slip ups snow days. "Man, I had a really bad snow day today". LOL.

I counted everything I could as Fluid. I was never a Water drinker and still struggle with it, so I drink a lot of herbal teas, coffee, no calorie iced tea, and use squirty stuff in my water when I actually drink it. So yes, I counted my shakes, too, when I was newly post op. Still alive after 2.5 years.

Occasional? I drink it every day! 2-3 cups. I started drinking it again around 6 weeks. Also, what @@Bufflehead said. A lot of surgeons actually want you to count it as your Fluid intake.

I can't tell you how many times I blew the crotch out of my pants getting into my work van. @ Yeah, when my hubby was 300 pounds (he had the bypass almost 11 years ago), I used to see his crotch ripped out of his pants all the time. I would be like "How are you DOING that?!"

@@gustavio Well, and just to give you an idea how fast things can go south: I was towing the line really well around Christmas. Like staying the same weight within literally a half pound. I was so proud of myself! Then winter hit here in Boise. We got more snow in the last couple of weeks than we've gotten in literally 2 winters. @@jenn1 can vouch. We were trapped in our neighborhoods, people couldn't get to work, school was closed for 6 days, and we were shoveling snow every couple of hours for a week straight. I was having to forgo the gym to take my son to work because his sedan couldn't get out of his subdivision for a week. Every time I would get enough gumption to go to the gym, I'd decided to not go because the roads were so treacherous. I figured shoveling snow would suffice. Between not going to the gym for almost 2 weeks, and a little comfort and frustration eating, I am up 3 pounds as of this morning. Just like that. The good news is I think there's a break in the weather, and I actually made my ass go to the gym today and I feel better But it will take me a month to get this off. Honestly. Life happens, but we have to learn to adapt and roll with the punches without it totally derailing our progress. This is the hardest part of the whole thing.

I wanted to lose a bit more past goal because of the "bounce" that naturally seems to happen a couple of years out, so I just kept doing what I was doing until my body just stopped losing 7 pounds past my goal of 150. I'm glad I did that, too, because I am constantly fighting 5 pounds, and being 5 pounds over my goal of 150 would piss me off, lol. Instead, I have wiggle room now. If I get close to the 150 mark, I adjust accordingly to get back down to my comfort zone. But it doesn't mess with my head knowing I'm "over" my goal weight, if that makes sense. Just a word of advice and my 2 cents. Oh, and once you're there, you get the fun job of finding the balance of eating more in order to maintain, but not too much as to gain. Good times!

A lot of them do a blood test to test for the presence of nicotine in your system. If so, they may cancel the surgery.