chasingpolaris321

This definitely happens to me. Now that I'm far enough out to experience hunger, I had a really hard time before my period limiting snacking. I never went off program, but I found myself eating more frequently and wanting carb ish foods.

CW: 167 Ugh, PMS + two week stall

I get anywhere from 800-1000. I think level of calories varies greatly depending on how far out from surgery you are. I think when I was where you are I was around 600 too. I will say that I think the types of carbs do matter. Even though I don't do low-carb, I really stick with yogurt, fruit, veggies, and oatmeal.

LOL this is the best. A lot of the time I don't even respond to the posts you mentioned because there's a fine line between someone asking for help, and being unwilling to help themselves by clicking on any number of threads with the exact information. Did you gain three pounds over night? No, not unless you sleep walked to a donut store and non stop consumed donuts for the rest of your evening. 300 calories a day for a year is absurd. If you want to loose weight in the most drastic way possible then cut your legs off or something. There's 40 or 50 pounds right there. But in all seriousness, do this surgery because you respect your body and want to make it the best it can be. That means eating enough food so that you gain nutrients and nourishment for it to function properly. Weight is important, but at the end of the day we need to love and care for ourselves the best we possibly can, and forced starvation is not how we do that.

From what I've read on here, it varies drastically from person to person. I have a pretty high tolerance for anesthesia and tend to come out of it quickly. I remember some pain while in the recovery room, but the nurses were diligent about adjusting things to try and make it more comfortable. I was then taken up to a room where things improved. I think your body is in shock and so I don't remember feeling super connected and even though I definitely had pain it was manageable. My recommendation is to be polite but persistent about pain medicine. That being said, many people don't even remember a lot of the things that I did and found the pain medication more than sufficient for that first day. I hope that helps!

Officially starting at 167. GW 155. Hoping my stall breaks soon! Good luck everyone!

I eat way more carbs than most people on here. I stay away from anything refined and rice, bread, pasta, etc., but I eat quite a bit of milk, yogurt, fruits, and veggies. I eat flavored yogurt that has some sugar in it, but stick with brands that have as little as possible. I track everything I eat so that I keep my protein levels and calories roughly where they should be, but I largely ignore carbs. It hasn't slowed me down as far as I can tell and I'm 73 pounds down in 4.5 ish months.

@@lynziv make sure you aren't too hard on yourself. I had a pretty rough recovery and really, truly struggled to get more than 20 grams of protein in for the first few weeks. I was freaking out about it until I spoke to my surgeon's office and they reassured me that I should just do the best I could and that it would get easier. I eventually felt better and started improving, and now I get between 60-85 grams every day. You'll get there!

I'm 26 and am 4.5 months out and down 70 ish pounds (30 ish left until goal). For me, stretch marks have definitely gotten more noticeable in the places where I tend to carry the most weight. It's not my favorite thing, but I'm not going to give it a second thought until I'm a year or two out. The reason that so many doctors make you wait until you consider plastics is that your skin changes and tightens up a lot after you reach goal. Like everyone else says, I think genetics plays a pretty large factor in loose skin, hair loss, etc. and so I'm not going to stress about anything other than what tiny pants I should buy next!

First challenge! My goal is 155. 11 pounds total. Fingers crossed :-)

One week of no weight loss is "sad" and two weeks of no weight loss is a "stall" I kid, but I think an official stall where your body is taking time to readjust is usually a couple weeks or more. I'm at the end of a week long no-loss and haven't figured out yet if it's a stall or hormonal changes. I do think it's easier to see if you are stalling when you weigh daily because your weight usually bounces back and forth between one our two pounds steadily. That being said, it can be very frustrating! Whatever we call a stall, it's important to focus on how we feel and appreciate how far we've come. And make sure not to panic :-)

I totally agree that honesty is really important in a friendship. That being said, I think opinions should be stated as opinions, and facts should be stated as facts. That dress looks bad on you is different than that dress isn't my favorite. It's a fine line between providing constructive criticism and making someone feel bad because of someone else's preference. The word fat to me is a judgement.

I think that people are responding negatively to your posts (myself included) because we all struggle so much with feeling like other people are judging our decision to have WLS that we don't want to come on BariatricPal and see that happening here. When you sort of casually throw out numbers of people you know who have had surgery and then lump them together are failures or as not taking WLS seriously, it's sort of alarming. Like others have mentioned, I think this (i.e. at what point is WLS a good option vs. conservative approaches) is a really interesting topic and is something worth discussing, but I think there is a better way to frame this that doesn't come across as judgmental. I think that goes both ways and that you deserve to be respected even when you have feelings that others don't agree with. Maybe we can all learn from this thread.

I for one have a very difficult time guessing people's weight. I think as obese or formerly obese people we are more preoccupied with looking at other people's weight because we are trying to make ourselves feel better. We want to reassure ourself that someone is bigger than we are or resent someone smaller than us because we just think about it more. It's normal human emotion, but it can affect how we feel about ourselves. I did a weight loss program with a girl who I could have sworn didn't have much of a weight problem, but who actually weight around 270. Everyone carries weight differently, and while I understand the temptation to make assumptions, it's important that we remind ourselves how hard WLS is and that most people don't undertake it lightly. My heart goes out to anyone who has struggled with weight because it's painful and sad.

You are such a mature and brave person. Honestly, it's so hard to look at yourself and realize when you can't fix everything on your own. What you're going through sounds like disordered eating like you said, but just remember that so many of us on this site have experienced disordered eating, albeit in the opposite direction. Having surgery doesn't change the way we think about food no matter how prepared we think we are, and it's going to be a journey for many years to come. You seem to have a really clear head about all of this, and I hope this program helps you heal a bit. I've done inpatient programs before and it can help to take some time out and focus on yourself. Good luck with everything, and let us know if you need help or support.

Not to be repetitive, but I had a hiatal hernia that was discovered pre-op and it was fixed during my sleeve surgery. I hope you can sort everything out with your doctor!

Born and raised in Santa Cruz, CA but currently living in Washington, DC for grad school :-)

I live in DC! I had my surgery with Dr. Moazzez in Fair Oaks (Fairfax) on August 12th. It's been quite the journey so far and I am really content with my decision to have the sleeve.

Hi all! I am so impressed by everyone's progress and can't believe how wonderful this surgery has been for all (or most) of us. Every day I realize another small way that I feel better about myself. I'm actually going snowboarding this weekend after not being able to for four years because of my weight! Such a great feeling! Anyways, here's where I'm at: Starting weight (Pre-op, not highest): 237 Day of surgery: 224 This morning: 174 Keep up the good work everyone!

I also struggle with this. I've lost around 60 pounds since the start of this process and I feel like I look the same. I know I don't but it's weird how that can happen. Hopefully as time goes on we will adjust mentally to meet where we are physically!

The Bariatric Advantage vitamins made me extremely nauseous and close to vomiting. Multiple people at my support group experienced the same thing. I have been taking Flinstones Complete Chewables but plan to switch over to a food based multivitamin soon. The Flinstones have what you need in them as long as you take them twice a day. I just don't like that they have chemicals and dyes in them.

I think this totally depends on your doctor and your past weight loss experience. My personal belief, that is in line with my surgeons, is that it is important to eat a varied and balanced diet, which includes eating healthy carbs like veggies and fruits and dairy (if you can). Protein is extremely important with this surgery to prevent lean mass loss, and I have found that with the low calories that I am consuming it is really irrelevant to track carbs because in order for me to overdo them I would not be eating enough protein. My myfitnesspal account does track them by default, and I can see that I eat a higher amount than many people on here. It has not been a problem for me at all and I am very happy with the weight I have lost. That being said, it seems like many people are triggered physically and emotionally by carbs and so if that is you then I see no harm in limiting and tracking them as long as you don't deprive yourself of things your body needs. WLS is about setting yourself up for a healthier lifestyle, and extreme restriction of the types of foods you eat seems counter intuitive to long term change to me.

A couple things- from what I know, Ambien is a short acting drug that stays in your system for about four hours. It works well for people who need help falling asleep but not for those who struggle with staying asleep. I have been taking it for quite a while now and it has worked for me both pre and post op (actually, it feels like it has a stronger effect now). They make an extended version of it, so perhaps talk to your doctor about that or a longer acting medication that's meant for regular use. Along those lines, Ambien is extremely habit forming so be mindful of that when switching to a new medication- I've done it before in the past and it's not the most pleasant experience. Another thing is that I would be careful mixing it with over the counter medications for sleep. Sleeping pills have an effect on your respiratory symptoms, and if you aren't careful you can have very serious problems with stopping breathing while you sleep. Finally, a doctor recently told me that while melatonin can be a great natural medication to help with sleep, taking too much of it can actually throw off your body's ability to regulate itself and make it harder to stay asleep especially in the long run. Having said all that, it seems like it would be helpful to try to establish why you are having sleep problems to begin with and that might help you decide what the best solution is (maybe you already know). Whatever you do, good luck and I hope you sleep better soon! I feel for you!

That's what I would say! If you already have a gallbladder issue that you don't know about, you might as well save recovery time by just having it out while you have the sleeve. Looking back I wish I had insisted on an ultrasound. If they don't find anything, a lot of doctors prescribe a medication that reduces your chance of stones developing post-op, which should relieve some of your fears about your gallbladder if it's healthy now.

I second the idea of being proactive before your sleeve. I was a month out from surgery and started having pains and ended up having my gallbladder out around the two month mark (a little over a week ago). They went back in through my same incisions and it was actually much more painful initially than my sleeve was. I'm happy to have it gone, but I really wish I had had it checked out before my sleeve. The doctor said that for the amount of stones I had there was no way I didn't already have them before the sleeve, even though they hadn't been causing me any pain.