IcanMakeit

I was told there'd be no math....
No, seriously. I hate math. And if I need to use it for maintenance I'm seriously screwed.

@@charmia, that's my take on it, too. I think that since smoking marijuana lowers inhibitions, you could end up making bad food choices and/or overeating. I'm not a smoker but if I was, I would avoid it post surgery.
Just my $.02: Lets be careful how we use the term addiction. If it's applied indiscriminately to every behavior we don't approve of, it loses its meaning.

My doctor told me it was ok to use whatever means necessary to stay regular, but I was afraid of becoming dependent on laxatives and suffered severely for months. I finally got it that he must know more than me and it would be ok to take his advice. So far, I have had no ill effects from daily stool softeners and regular (not quite daily) use of laxatives. I do alternate the different preparations: Mira-Lax, Col-Rite, Milk of Magnesia, Smooth Move tea. I am so much more comfortable now!
Also, about the grapefruit. I am below my goal weight and I have now increased my fruit intake. (I was already eating plenty of vegetables.) This is probably part of the reason I have been more comfortable. But I would advise being careful not to add a lot of fruit too early. It will definitely affect the rate of weight loss.

My doctor told me it was ok to use whatever means necessary to stay regular, but I was afraid of becoming dependent on laxatives and suffered severely for months. I finally got it that he must know more than me and it would be ok to take his advice. So far, I have had no ill effects from daily stool softeners and regular (not quite daily) use of laxatives. I do alternate the different preparations: Mira-Lax, Col-Rite, Milk of Magnesia, Smooth Move tea. I am so much more comfortable now!
Also, about the grapefruit. I am below my goal weight and I have now increased my fruit intake. (I was already eating plenty of vegetables.) This is probably part of the reason I have been more comfortable. But I would advise being careful not to add a lot of fruit too early. It will definitely affect the rate of weight loss.

@@charmia, that's my take on it, too. I think that since smoking marijuana lowers inhibitions, you could end up making bad food choices and/or overeating. I'm not a smoker but if I was, I would avoid it post surgery.
Just my $.02: Lets be careful how we use the term addiction. If it's applied indiscriminately to every behavior we don't approve of, it loses its meaning.

I went for a longish bike ride today and learned two things. 1. Bike riding on a beautiful day in a beautiful town is fun and I need to keep doing it, and 2. It's way easier to ride when you weigh a lot less. Even though I'm totally out of shape and haven't been riding regularly since last fall, I was able to go up hills that used to make me get off and walk.

108 this morning. I get to add a few more calories this week, but I know a year from now I'm going to be laughing (or crying) about my current concern about losing too much weight. I don't want to overreact and end up on the Regain Express.

Hi Everyone,
I was sleeved in December, and am down 90 lb. (from 301 to 211). I am a teacher and off for the summer, and decided to clean out my closet. Well, I've packed away bags and bags of clothes, but I'm having a really hard time actually letting go of them. Every time I've lost weight in the past, I've ended up needing to buy the bigger clothes again. All I'm seeing is thousands of dollars in those bags... I am committed to sticking with this way of life long term, but something in me is making this really, really difficult. Anyone else feel like this?

I find myself having to control my eyes from rolling when I hear thin people make such pronouncements. Do they think all obese people are stupid and without willpower? Most of them wouldn't last a day on the diets we've been (temporarily) successful on before resorting to WLS. They really don't get it.

If anyone cares ...
I just calculated my last 21 days' average of calories eaten. If I ignore the daily weight fluctuations, it looks like during that time I lost a pound. Assuming that pound is "worth" 3,500 calories, my 145-pound maintenance budget (at my current level of activity) is 1,750 calories.
Obviously, I don't eat the same number of calories every day. During the last 3 weeks my daily calories ranged from 1,140 - 2,090. My daily Protein grams ranged from 57 - 127 and averaged 98.
Like I've said before, this could just be what my CURRENT maintenance budget is. It's possible that maintenance budget could go up or down for any number of reasons.
This is just one long science experiment. But with a sample of only one subject. Me.
As always, others' mileage will vary.

Yeah, I regretted the surgery for about a month after I admitted to myself that WLS was not magic that would cause me to lose weight without effort. When I truly accepted that I would have to make real changes in my lifestyle in order to be successful, I was as petulant as a thwarted 2 year old. But now I actually like my new way of eating. I now tend to make healthy food choices as a matter of habit, with no thought or effort required. I am so glad I decided to have the VSG. It has given me back my health.

I find myself having to control my eyes from rolling when I hear thin people make such pronouncements. Do they think all obese people are stupid and without willpower? Most of them wouldn't last a day on the diets we've been (temporarily) successful on before resorting to WLS. They really don't get it.

I bought a Fitbit and I really like it. It estimates how many calories I'm burning each day, so I have a good idea of how many I should be eating. It has already helped. I'm back up to 109. That's only a pound, but it may mean I'm finding my healthy calorie allowance.
Edited: that weight gain was just a digestive fluctuation, I guess. I'm down even lower than before. Now at 107.

I am doing well now, the first day after surgery I had to be readmitted to the hospital due to dehydration and pain because I couldn't keep my meds or liquids down. I was discharged on Thursday and I have felt great the past two days! Just trying to get my sips in and walk!

OK, this is ridiculous. I can do this. This afternoon I went to the grocery store and bought for the cupboard / refrigerator:
Nuts (almonds) - offers some Protein and a lot more fat
Ground round and black Beans - for delish, high-protein beef chili
Greek yogurt - I can surely eat more than one a day
2% milk (instead of skim) for morning skinny lattes
Two small Hagen Dazs chocolate ice cream containers (270 calories each). Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.
For lunch today, I had a sweet onion chicken 6" sandwich on half of the flat bread and a whole bag of Sun chips (220 calories). Yeah, chips for lunch -- haven't done that in a while.
For dinner tonight (meeting my niece at Ruby Tuesday), I'll have a 5 ounce glass of chardonnay and the Thai Phoon shrimp appetizer -- all of it!
I'll total out at 1,771 calories and 90 grams of Protein for the day.
And we'll just see what the damn scale says tomorrow morning.

I hate that you were made to feel that way. That's a problem some (especially young) health care professionals have, they forget that their patients are actually people, with feelings. They don't bother to use tact and kindness because they are too focused on "doing the job" rather than helping the patient.
You deserve to be treated with respect. I think I'm all for your husband's probable reaction.

After losing 100 lbs, my boobs went from 48H (watermelons) to 40DD (tube socks). This was before my breast reduction surgery. I'm not sure what my cup size was after surgery, but I've lost 35 more pounds since the breast reduction and now find my 34D bras are too big. I think my current size is 34C, which I haven't worn since junior high school. I'm getting a big kick out of being small-breasted.

I am happy to hear that so far chemotherapy is tolerable and that Dave is doing well. But it really steams me that you have to waste your energy battling with your insurance company at this time. Those people have no shame.
I also want to say that your wisdom and positivity is inspirational. I don't think many people could handle what you are going through with such grace.

Yeah, I regretted the surgery for about a month after I admitted to myself that WLS was not magic that would cause me to lose weight without effort. When I truly accepted that I would have to make real changes in my lifestyle in order to be successful, I was as petulant as a thwarted 2 year old. But now I actually like my new way of eating. I now tend to make healthy food choices as a matter of habit, with no thought or effort required. I am so glad I decided to have the VSG. It has given me back my health.

Hi I work out 7 days a week for 2 hours and still could not get rid of the extra skin on my tummy, I am now 3 week post opt from Tummy Tuck with muscle repair and it has been the best decision I have made, do to being in excellent shape prior to my tummy tuck I was walking upright the very next day which takes some people week to do , do to my Protein increase of 120 per day prior to surgery my healing has been great. I encourage everyone to exercise but if you still have extra skin do not be afraid to have it removed. Good luck everyone.

I don't know if this qualifies as an NSV, but I ate popcorn last weekend and did not try to overeat it, nor did it lead me to start craving other slider foods. (Popcorn is one of the foods that I abused most often when I was obese.) I think if I keep dangerous treats to a minimum, I can learn to eat them occasionally and responsibly.

Although I started this process to improve my health and longevity, I am really enjoying my new thinness. I have never been this thin before, not even in high school or college. This is a novelty that I admit to getting a real kick out of. But, even though I think I am still fine, I'm aware that my BMI is approaching the "underweight" level. Although I love fitting into size 4's, improving my health is still my goal. Being underweight at my age is not advantageous.
What I really want is to maintain at my current weight, or maybe a pound or two higher. I really don't want to get on the regain express. My sister listened to all of the critics who said she was too thin after her RNY, and ended up gaining 30 unwanted pounds on top of the few that she intended. Now she struggles to lose and then regains again, never reaching the healthy BMI level again. Her weight is less than it was pre-surgery, but she is overweight again and her previous health problems are returning. This is what I want to avoid.
I have already added calories and fruit carbs into my diet. But I feel it is important to continue to implement the way of eating that I used to lose weight, with modifications to stop the weight loss. It's not that I cannot ever enjoy ice cream for dessert. It's that I have to remain judicious in my indulgences. No matter how thin I am now, if I go back to my old habits, I will definitely go back to my old weight and comorbidities.
So I'm not listening to people to who tell me to gain weight. They won't have to deal with the repercussions if I gain back too much. Losing more than 130 pounds was not easy, even with the VSG. I'm in no hurry to gain weight and have to try to do it again.

I am also getting complaints and warnings about my weight loss from my friends and family, and I can understand that they are concerned because I look so different. But to have a co-worker make such an inappropriate comment would really get me steamed. I'm glad you're so secure and weren't affected.
Re the photo -- Brava!

After losing 100 lbs, my boobs went from 48H (watermelons) to 40DD (tube socks). This was before my breast reduction surgery. I'm not sure what my cup size was after surgery, but I've lost 35 more pounds since the breast reduction and now find my 34D bras are too big. I think my current size is 34C, which I haven't worn since junior high school. I'm getting a big kick out of being small-breasted.

@@charmia, that's my take on it, too. I think that since smoking marijuana lowers inhibitions, you could end up making bad food choices and/or overeating. I'm not a smoker but if I was, I would avoid it post surgery.
Just my $.02: Lets be careful how we use the term addiction. If it's applied indiscriminately to every behavior we don't approve of, it loses its meaning.