IcanMakeit

I am trying to figure that out. I'm going to Cancun next week on a girls trip and I'm very nervous. Looking forward to reading the wisdom of others.
Two things I have planned for my trip is to continue my workout schedule at the hotel and request a set of scales in my room so I can monitor my weight and ensure that I don't start gaining.

@@leag78 I know this isn't what you want to hear but my advice is that you just keep following your doc's plan and try to be patient. Everyone loses at their own pace and we don't get to dictate to our bodies how quickly to lose. Your weight loss so far seems pretty darned good. Try not to worry so much, just enjoy the benefits.

When I first made goal I thought I looked a lot older than I did when I was obese. Now, months later, I feel that my face has adjusted to the weight loss and has lost the Skeletor look. But this is all probably more in my head than reality. People didn't see me as I saw myself. When I told my husband that I thought I was looking better, he said I looked fine all along.

I'm almost 4 months post op. Even before thinking about surgery, there were small steps I would take to try and 'preserve' what health I had. (Ie- drink Water, diet soda, bring lunch vs buying it etc) All the while I would hope my husband would adopt something for himself too... But he's his own person. He's never berated, bullied or lectured me about my weight, and I try and do the same for him.
But, part of me wonders if he was kind of 'enabling' me, or simply not doing me any favors ignoring the 'elephant' in the room. But, it's nearly impossible to approach this topic of weight without seeming like you are 'fat shaming'.
I see how physically unhappy he is with himself. And how unhealthy he is, cholesterol issues, elevated A1c, sleep apnea, joint pains etc. I love him and want us to enjoy growing old together, but we're too young for all that! Guess I can only pray that he chooses something that helps enhance his quality of life at some point. I ultimately had to make this decision on my own, So I need to transition my worry for him to love and appreciation for his support of me.

I noticed in your topic you wanted it moved to the general forum, so hoping it's ok for a woman to be responding even though you're in the man's room.
I can understand your concern about being stuck with bypass instead of the sleeve and I would also have a hard time with that. That being said though, you noted that you were successful on your own losing weight and that it just took one slip to start gaining again. Much as the first year or so is like a honeymoon after bariatric surgery, you will still spend the rest of your life counting calories, working out, and potentially gaining weight if you are not aways vigilant. I love my sleeve, but the further out that I am the more I realize that my weight will always be a battle. Every day I wake up and I weigh myself. Then I drag myself to the gym or for a run, I log my food in MyFitnessPal, and some days I still wake up the next day fatter than the day before. If I am not always on my game, every single day, I can now see that I can very easily gain the weight right back.
So, while I am all for bariatric surgery, remember that no matter what option you choose, you can still be a fat person with 20% of a stomach, a fat person with a band around your stomach, or a fat person that has no food routed through their stomach. It's less about the surgery and more about recognizing that you have a tool, which you can use or not use, but in the end, the fight to not be fat is a lifelong battle.
Good luck with your decision!

My family income level dropped quite a bit since my husband passed away. My job as a public school reading teacher doesn't help make up for that loss of income much, of course. My income is just a tad over the limit to receive government assistance, so I decided to let my insecurities go and make a trip to the local food bank.
I wasn't hoping to receive food to help my dietary needs, since I don't eat that much. It was more to help fill my son's never ending stomach. Getting milk, eggs, and bread for free was actually my purpose in going this one time.
Let me begin by saying that everyone there was extremely friendly and the process was quite easy. The place was packed and it was over an hour wait, which I didn't mind. Most of the people waiting were mothers with many small rowdy children. I'm quite aware of the stereotype correlating poor people with obesity. Looking around at the very overweight moms and kids, I could see why others might make that assumption.
When they called my name to get my food, I was ecstatic about the number of bags of food they were bringing to my car. I only have one kid and he is quite spoiled. His only comment about getting free food was: "It better be doughnuts and pizza because I hardly ever get that anymore." I told him not to count on it, but it ended up I was wrong.
Here is a list of foods that were contained in the five bags and four boxes:
7 Kings Size Peanut Butter Twix candy Bars
7 Bags of mini-Butterfinger pieces
3 bags of mini Reese's cups
2 six count boxes of Crispy Crème doughnuts
1 bag of 48 unbaked chocolate chip Cookies
1 bottle of light corn Syrup
1 bottle of dark corn syrup
1 canister of salt
1 bag of frozen Black pepper seasoned French fries
1 bag of frozen Barbecue flavored French fries
3 boxes of cereal: chocolate crispies, honey bunches of oats
Baked goods: chocolate muffins, marble cake, pound cake, waffles, chocolate covered brownies, lemon streusel cakes, long loaf of French bread, 6 birthday cupcakes, red velvet cake
3 large unbaked pepporoni pizza's from Wal-Mart
Little Debbie Snacks (zebra cakes, moon pies)
2 large canisters of Wrigley's gum
10 cans of raviolis
2 boxes of saltines
1 box of wheat thins
1 box with 12 small canisters of cheese its
7 small snack bags of teddy grahams
box of Kashi granola bars
box of peanut butter/chocolate power bars
canned goods: green Beans, Peanut Butter, cranberry sauce, creamed corn, mixed vegetables
box of 6 angus beef burgers
deer sausage
banana popsicles
chocolate fudge pops
4 rolls of TP
paper towels
box of spaghetti noodles
3 boxes of hamburger helper
bag of frozen cranberries
pancake mix
cornmeal mix
1 canister of chocolate milk powder
3 boxes of pink lemonade cake mixes
2 boxes of muffin mix (blueberry/cornbread)
1 quart of whole milk
6 large eggs
I'm not going to complain about this food. In fact, I am happy that I got what I hoped, which was the bread, eggs, and milk. I've already given much of the baked goods away because my son doesn't need it. We have enough income to buy healthier food in place of it. But what about the families who don't? I keep thinking about those mothers at the pantry with all their small children. They must HAVE to eat all this food, including the junk because they have no choice. This makes me sad. However, I am thankful that at least they have something to fill their stomach.
My neighbor did inform me that not all pantries give out the same kind of food. Some pantries actually have fresh produce donated by the farmers market. I'll actually have to keep this in mind in case we get into a rut again. My salary has gone up this school year and I've started my own after school tutoring service, so I think we are going to be financially set for awhile. Once we get ahead, I plan on donating some healthy food to the same food bank I just visited.

2+ years post-op and I have only mixed my eating and drinking a couple of times. A couple of times by accident and a couple of times because I was in a huge hurry and didn't have time to wait. I regretted it when I did because once you get used to separating them, it feels physically weird and wrong to do it together. Not painful but uncomfortable -- at least for me. I don't see this changing, ever, in my life.
If you end up in a place where you need to take tiny sips occasionally to avoid puking or gagging, I think that's understandable. But I would say don't plan to make up your own rules up front. Have the attitude that you will follow the plan your medical team lays out for you unless and until you are physically proven that it's impossible. Don't give up and admit failure at any part of it until you've made a sustained effort post-surgery. Good luck!
Completely unrelated but just FYI you won't have a "pouch" -- that's what RNY'ers get. You will have a sleeve.

I'm back up to 105 after being at 104 most of last week. My extra snacking is working, but I hope it doesn't work too well.

Wow. I'm amazed that some people believe that because something is true, it must be public. I disagree very strongly with that notion. I have the right keep information about my body private. Period.
It sounds like your co-worker does not believe in a right to privacy and she should not be privy to medical information. I understand you not wanting to rock the boat and I respect your decision, but I might have reported her.

Soft crackers? Sounds like an oxymoron. Maybe they did mean softened crackers. Even in the early phases I concentrated on Protein sources. I did not try starches except for mashed Beans.< /p>

Wow. I'm amazed that some people believe that because something is true, it must be public. I disagree very strongly with that notion. I have the right keep information about my body private. Period.
It sounds like your co-worker does not believe in a right to privacy and she should not be privy to medical information. I understand you not wanting to rock the boat and I respect your decision, but I might have reported her.

I believe that when I hold on to anger and bitterness, that I am hurting myself more than the person who wronged me. So for me, forgiveness is in my own best interest. However, that doesn't mean I will forget the wrong. And in the future I am less likely to give my trust to that person.

I believe that when I hold on to anger and bitterness, that I am hurting myself more than the person who wronged me. So for me, forgiveness is in my own best interest. However, that doesn't mean I will forget the wrong. And in the future I am less likely to give my trust to that person.

I believe that when I hold on to anger and bitterness, that I am hurting myself more than the person who wronged me. So for me, forgiveness is in my own best interest. However, that doesn't mean I will forget the wrong. And in the future I am less likely to give my trust to that person.

Getting up after being seated for an extended period of time and walking without pain. I still revel in this. I was so used to being in pain all the time that the lack of it is a marvel and definitely my top NSV.

Not buying clothes that always have flowers on them or are gathered across the bust line.
Having my heart shaped face back.
Being able to wipe without contorting my body or breaking the toilet seat.
Flying
Sitting in a chair without wondering if I will end up on the floor.
Thinking I will fit through somewhere only to knock everything over or getting stuck.
Getting on a crowded elevator without someone getting off.
To get on the floor with my grandchildren and not having to crawl to a piece of furniture and take 5 minutes to get up.

My younger sisters are interested in the surgery, they're 18. And my only reason I'm against them getting it YET is I don't think they are anywhere near mentally ready for wls. You need a certain mindset for this. You need to be ready to eat healthy, exercise and change your mentality towards food. I think showing a true attempt to lose weight through diet and exercise is important, simply because if shows you know what it's going to take and that wls isn't the easy fix. Unfortunately my sisters seem to still think it's magic.
If your daughter puts a real effort into being healthy and understands the consequences of it being a lifetime change, then why wait.

So I've been REALLY putting in a good fight to lose weight going into surgery and to change my old habits NOW so that it's not so foreign afterwards. In June, I could barely walk across my house without having to sit down. 2 weeks ago, I nearly died going around the block and yesterday, I walked 2 miles! Seriously my heart was pounding out of my chest and I was coughing like a 50yr smoker when I got home(if home counts as the front lawn and my fat ass laying on it like a fish pulled out of a lake LOL), but I was so proud! I walked 2 miles!!!! At this rate I wonder if I can get to light jogging even before my surgery(I wish!)

I can't count the number of brilliant, important posts that were eaten by my iPad!
No, seriously this is very irritating and I hope there is a solution.

Don't feel guilty for doing so well. Be grateful and enjoy it. Every journey is different and yours just happens to be one of the good ones. I wish you continued success and good health!

I can't count the number of brilliant, important posts that were eaten by my iPad!
No, seriously this is very irritating and I hope there is a solution.

I work in a very public place and I knew I would get a lot of questions about my weight loss. I had my answers ready: I'm in a medically supervised weight loss program; I have made permanent changes to the way I eat; I've gone Paleo etc. Now that I'm getting these questions four or five times a day I am amazed at how invasive they feel. This whole journey has been so personal its about getting my life back. It's about reclaiming who I was before all the trauma happened in my life and I turned to food as my only comfort.
People who don't know anything about me want to go on and on about my weight. They think they are being nice for noticing and that congratulating me profusely might help me. To me it feels the same as if someone I don't know walks up to me and says "Hey, how was your last pap smear?" in front of a bunch of people. There is that second of shock and then I give a quick answer and try to change the subject but they keep coming back. I find myself shooting irritated looks at people when they won't shut up but that just makes them start talking about how they were just trying to be nice and how they wanted to let me know that I was doing a good job .....and so the conversation continues.
Oh well, there is nothing I can do about it except change jobs which I plan to do in a few months. It's just that I want the right to be selfish about something. I have suffered so many invasions in my life from people who thought they had the right to invade. So this thing is really pushing my buttons.

It seems that way.
I have zero problems accessing this site from my MacBook or iPhone.........but the iPad goes nuts on here.
Halfway through typing a response it will have an error.....refresh automatically and my response is deleted.
Many other weird issues.
I'm logging into the full site.....not using the app. Perhaps this is the issue??? Full site is fine on my phone and laptop, though.

Although I agree with what I believe to be the point of this article (that in order to achieve long term success, we have to make permanent changes to our way of eating), I was also put off by some of its assertions. I do not agree that the first 100 lbs lost is all due to surgery. So many people never reach that milestone because they were unable to follow the program set out for them. Losing that much weight takes sacrifice and focus. I don't like hearing anyone diminish this accomplishment.
The other assertion that I don't really agree with is that it's wrong to enjoy substitutes for white carbs. There are many healthy ways to enjoy your Pasta sauce, not just Shirataki noodles, and to me, no reason not to try them.
Unfortunately for me (since I really enjoy carbs), I do agree that I need to severely limit white carbs forever if I want long term success, but I know that not everyone agrees with that.

@@lmhelmick and @Mooseknuckle:
Enjoy this period of low appetite. Believe me, it passes.