KQH

Thanks Oregon Daisy....no one has had the staying power here like you have....maybe Miss Diva.....but yes, I do think it's important that a few of us continue on the path where it all started....for me, it keeps me honest and motivated. And I do hope your life is good....no, I hope it's fabulous! If not, perhaps I can encourage you to make some decisions to help you make it even better.....
Today is my 61st BD and I am so happy.....I woke up to so many lovely comments on my blog which made me feel really encouraged. Then I went to the gym, had a few calls from friends....then my husband and I rode our bikes downtown to a gorgeous, classy lingerie shop where he bought me a very beautiful sexy new bra! Then, we went and had a coffee and a little cake; in fact the weather is so nice, we sat outside. Tonight we go out to dinner with friends...life is great.

It's OK to be curious. It's a long road of "bad" food choices that have gotten many of us to the need for WLS in the first place. I was fortunate to be at a point in my life where I was thoroughly sick of being fat. I resigned myself to the idea that I had eaten more than my share of crap over my 42 years and if I was never able to eat XXX again, so be it, as long as I regained my health.
Now I eat what I want. I make great choices most of the time and when I don't, I eat just a few bites of whatever that indulgence might be. I don't feel guilty, I don't feel "bad", I don't beat myself up. I am an adult and I am aware enough to know what works for me and what doesn't.
As stated above, none of those foods are "bad". I have had a bite or more of all of those. I don't tolerate Pasta or rice well and the crust from pizza sticks terribly. I have actually come to a point where I don't even WANT more than a teaspoon or two of things that are bready/doughy or contain rice/pasta.
It's my thought that if I tell myself never again, I will fail. On the other hand, some people know if they try it, they will fall down a slippery slope. Only YOU can decide.
Some foods make me sick, some make me poop Soup, some make me vomit. I can't tell you what will work or not work for you nor can anyone else. Small bites, chew well and stick to your doc's plans. Eventually you will be able to experiment.

Yeah! What KQH said! :-). Every Dr has a different protocol. Mine has over 10k WLSs under his belt and his is nothing like yours. I stay low carb but not carb free. At 2 months out, I can eat fruit and vegetables, cheese, etc. I'd research and make the best decision for you.

318.6 to 234.8 today (haven't changed my ticker yet). I was sleeved 7/1 so 109 days. I eat a ton of veggies, good Protein, and real food. Right now I'm doing Whole30 and love it!

So this is going to piss off a lot of people. But I call BS on everyone that says they are a "private person" or "its nobody else's business" when trying to justify why they don't admit to having WLS. Saying you had your gall bladder removed or a hernia repaired or any other number of fake surgeries instead of WLS is "sharing" a personal health issue, just not the one you actually had. If you needed a knee or hip replacement, would you fib and say you sprained something to explain your brace and/or crutches? Do you hide your need for insulin if you have diabetes? Do you all wear contacts instead of glasses so people don't know you have bad vision? How about if you needed your appendix removed? A kidney transplant? Can you seriously say you would come up with a "story" to cover up the fact you needed these surgeries?
What are you all afraid of? Why are you ashamed? This was a huge commitment for all of us. Why aren't you willing to stand up and defend your convictions by being honest about your decision to have surgery? Some people claim they don't want to hear negative feedback. Well how is the social stigma of obesity and WLS ever going to be overcome unless those negative people hear and see all of our success stories for themselves. Every time I am asked about my weight loss I see it as an opportunity to educate. Maybe next time the subject is brought up, that person can say "I know someone that had VSG and she looks and feels great! Why don't you give her a call".
I don't mean to offend, I just don't think "privacy" is the whole reason why WLS isn't admitted to and talked about openly.

Started at 381. Now I fluctuate between 170 ans 180. I can handle that. LOL
It is a journey well worth taking! I confess I like the new clothes and always dress the 9's. A perk I deserve....really! hehehehehe

Today I was cleaning my garage and came across some old jeans and shorts. It shocked me how big they were. I had forgotten I guess how far I've come. I held them up one by one and marveled that they ever fit me. I was pretty sure I had found clothes from my very heaviest - 330 ish and size 28W to 32W or 3x to 4x range. I checked tag number 1...size 20W. Checked the next...sure enough they were all 20w to 22w. It hit me like a ton of bricks to realize why these were forgotten in garage was because they were WAY to small when I moved to this house.
I spent a few minutes feeling sad for the woman who would have considered 20w pretty damn good clothing size/fairly trim. Then I emotionally moved on to gratefulness that I have attained a normal weight and size.
I am surprised how much this event shook me up.

Since I went to Mexico for my surgery and wouldn't have a local team providing support, I've done tons of research for myself. I felt very comfortable making my own choices as far as what to eat and when, using what my surgeon suggested as a guideline.

My personal choices were to start pureed and soft foods earlier than recommended, I don't eat 80g of Protein every day, I eat a lot of veggies, I don't use Protein shakes/mixes/bars on a regular basis, and I eat whole foods (clean eating, paleo, whatever... it's real, not processed).

Much to my sadness, I've found that simple carbs like bread and pizza crust don't work for me -- I stopped losing, I actually gained, I felt "heavy", and so I'm leaving them out for now. I don't believe carbs are BAD, just at this point in my journey, they're not my friends.

When I hit 80lbs gone, I began the Whole30 program to eliminate dairy (OMG, no cheese!!!!), gluten, legumes (I miss black beans) and added sugar, including artificial sweeteners, from my diet. An elimination diets of sorts. We'll see how I feel when the 30 days is done and I'll make additions... or not... from there.

I eat over 1,000 calories almost every day (usually closer to 1,200-1,400) and am still losing at a great pace and HEALTHY so whatever works for you!

318.6 to 234.8 today (haven't changed my ticker yet). I was sleeved 7/1 so 109 days. I eat a ton of veggies, good Protein, and real food. Right now I'm doing Whole30 and love it!

In my opinion, when people say... easy way out, they are usually not educated on the matters and have no idea how to be supportive.
I have several friends who dropped out of high school and got their GED instead of their High School Diploma. At least two of those people went on to found some pretty big companies. They are still self employed to this date just like me. They both provide at least 300 jobs in the areas they live in. When they said they were quitting high school to get their GED, they were told they were taking the easy way out... that they would not stand a chance at decent employment... because employers would look down on them for getting their GED... in short, a GED says HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA on it... so people were idiots for saying that. I don't have a high school diploma or GED and I've been self employed for 13 years straight now.
I'm going to Mexico next week. People have told me... OMG I wouldn't go to Mexico...much less have surgery there... I look at them and tell them that they are racist and idiots. That usually shuts them down. If they continue, I then ask them if they have ever been to Mexico? The answer is always no. I tell them after they have saved for a few years to go.
When someone tells me that I took the easy way out, I'm going to look at them... and give them snarky stuck up answers like... yep and I can afford to take the easy way out of everything, can you?

Bite me.

Another one who started out in tight 26/28 or 30/32 and can still wear those clothes even at 84lbs gone! I do need new clothes but I don't have a whole range of sizes to choose from in my closet since I've been 26/28 for as long as I can remember - the sizing just grew with me

I'm going to a work conference mid-November at Disney World (we own a travel agency) so I'll be buying some things for that then. Otherwise, I'll keep pinning and holding as long as I can!

SLCMommy, I used Dr. Q as well and am thrilled with my surgery, care, and recovery. Best wishes to your husband and daughter.

No problem with hydration. It is harder the first say 2 months, but after that most of us have no problems at all. I am very active.
I lost over 160#. Excercise tone muscles which makes you look better and TIME helps skin shrink some, so the two really help... but let's not be dellusional, exercise does not shrink skin. If someone can find me scientific research that shows exercise shrinks skin... I would love to see it...
When I was much younger I lost like 65# and had zero excess skin. Losing 160# in my late 40s was a bit of a different story, after decades of obesity.
so, post sleeve, my excess skin wasn't that bad until about the last 30-40# weight loss... so one solution is to stay a little higher weight. But trust me, if you go from 308 to 140, there is skin for two people and it is noticable. It is a good problem to have though compared to obesity!!!

This hemp Protein has a strong bittersweet/very dark chocolate flavor: https://www.onnit.com/hemp-force/

Checking in! Down just over 70lbs since pre-op, eating and drinking like a "normal" person, off shakes and powders and such unless I want one (Quest bars, yum), getting plenty of veggies and some fruit with my Protein. This week I hit my first BIG weight loss goal so there was some definite SnoopyDancing going on!

I'm away from home for business. I'm three months out. I brought sardines to eat in my hotel room for dinner--no fork! There is a set up for coffee--next time I'm bringing Decaf tea. I brought milk in a box to make a Protein shake, and I had to poke it open with a pen. Live and learn.
Good thing it's only one night.

I guess you guys would cringe at my maintenance diet. First off, I've never weighed, measured or tracked my food. I know I'm getting 30-40g Protein in my smoothie everyday and I mentally keep track of my liquids so I know I'm getting at least 64oz. Other than that I simply eat when I'm hungry and just until satisfied, not full. I have no idea how many calories or carbs I consume. I simply try to eat a healthy, balanced diet of Protein, veggies, fruit and whole grains. Never limited fat and have had all of the "bad" stuff IN MODERATION..... Alcohol, chips, ice cream, cake, bread, Pasta, etc. in fact, I had a pancake with butter and maple Syrup and sausage for Breakfast this morning. And a 1/4 pound bacon-Swiss burger with guacamole and mayo and fries last week (of course it took me 3 days to finish)
I didn't have surgery to be on a diet the rest of my life. If I wanted to keep track of everything and restrict what I can and can't eat I could have stayed on weight watchers. I read a lot of threads on here about people stressing over numbers....number of calories, grams of carbs, losses/gains on the scale, minutes at the gym, etc. Postop life really doesn't have to be that complicated.

I'm just past the 12-week point and so far, no Hair loss. We'll see!

Checking in! Down just over 70lbs since pre-op, eating and drinking like a "normal" person, off shakes and powders and such unless I want one (Quest bars, yum), getting plenty of veggies and some fruit with my Protein. This week I hit my first BIG weight loss goal so there was some definite SnoopyDancing going on!

Thank you so much for sharing! I'm only 9 weeks post-op and already thinking about when and what if. Seeing it helps!

Checking in! Down just over 70lbs since pre-op, eating and drinking like a "normal" person, off shakes and powders and such unless I want one (Quest bars, yum), getting plenty of veggies and some fruit with my Protein. This week I hit my first BIG weight loss goal so there was some definite SnoopyDancing going on!

I am 5' (first thing in morning), surgery this Monday. It is impossible for me to imagine at this point smaller sizes. My closet lacks a single piece of clothing that is "too big" on me. This could be really fun!!

Thank you so much for sharing! I'm only 9 weeks post-op and already thinking about when and what if. Seeing it helps!

Then he'll swing the other way and be oversolicitous (to your hormonal self) with "where can we go where you can eat too?" and you'll want to cream him because he should know by now that you can find something to eat anywhere! The poor man won't be able to win, trust me