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bellabloom

Gastric Bypass Patients
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Everything posted by bellabloom

  1. bellabloom

    My Hunger Has Returned!!

    I'm going to disagree and say hunger is both physically and emotionally painful for me. Hunger is not a natural or good state for our body to be in nor is it necessary to lose weight. There is only so long someone can be hungry and in pain from this before their body will rebel and they will be unable to keep going. This is why I've explored other options in maintaining my weight and have been successful at both staying at a healthy weight and never having to feel hunger.
  2. bellabloom

    Plastic's in Mexico?!!

    The cost for my procedures plus 6 days of aftercare with dr cardenas was about 13,500. I had a neck lift, tummy tuck, and breast lift. She has a top notch facility. She is a former bariatric patient herself. I've never seen a more beautiful hospital than the one I stayed in. She has checked up with me daily post surgery. She is both highly skilled and an artist about the body. Going to Mexico was the best decision I ever made, period. Here are some pictures-
  3. bellabloom

    Sharp pains

    I am guessing then gas pain. Have you talked to your surgeon? I had pain like this- my gallbladder and an ulcer. Took awhile to heal the ulcer. But only your doctor can tell you.
  4. It can happen. I relapsed into anorexia because of the surgery and at my low weight I weight 115 lbs at 5'6. I had to get into therapy. After so many years of wanting to be thin, I discovered I couldn't stop wanting to lose. Losing gave me so much satisfaction and maintaining scared the crap out of me. I was addicted to the losing part because it felt safe. Therapy helped me, ive now out back on 15 lbs, stopped dieting and am very healthy. It will be okay. Don't worry. Deal with it if and when it happens My face volume did fall a bit more than I wanted it too. I'm having my plastic surgeon so fat transfer to my cheeks in September. It's not too bad but I do miss the roundness of my younger face.
  5. Dr Carmina Cardenas in Tijuana. 100000000000%%%%%% amazing. You could not ask for a better surgeon and experience. I've posted about her plenty- check them out. You can pm me as well.
  6. Carbs are sliders. There is practically no restriction with those. You've just discovered why many people don't have success with this. I'm sorry you are going through this and I'm sorry to say it may get worse from here. I hope I can help- maybe not now but down the line. The reason you ate those things is because a person and a body can only white knuckle dieting for so long. Our bodies don't like being under fed. Your body took advantage of the situation to get some much needed fuel. You've lost so much so fast- you are in starvation state. That's what your bodies knows. Your body doesn't know you are under feeding it on purpose. I know you will go back to your post beach day diet. That's fine. But if you continue to have this issue I hope you will pm me. I can hopefully help you.
  7. bellabloom

    DOES BUTT GET SMALLER?

    I miss my big butt
  8. Please don't. Seek therapy etc. it's not worth it. I am sure you are missing the oral fixation that smoking satisfies but smoking is incredibly dangerous and can truly damage your new stomach. Vaping is largely unstudied but I imagine still better than light up a cigarette.
  9. bellabloom

    My Hunger Has Returned!!

    Hi. So. Yes hunger comes back. That is a fact. Some sooner than others. Wls starves your body down to a lower weight. Eventually your body will want to fight that. This is why maintaining is the hardest part for most people. You can read my story and see what I went through. That may help you. When my own hunger returned it scared the hell out of me. I put on about 15 pounds (which was actually good since I was underweight) but I was afraid it would never stop. When my hunger returned I began to emotionally over eat again. I found myself right back were I started, living on a diet and binging out of guilt. I was right back in the loss/regain cycle. I had dieted my way up to being obese so I knew this was not what I wanted to happen again. I had to get real. I said to myself - has dieting ever worked for you? What has been the result of trying to deny your hunger? What has happened when you have eaten less than your body clearly wanted? Well- I gained weight. Lots of it. I wasn't about to let that happen again. I got real and discovered intuitive eating, sought eating disorder therapy, learned to practice mindful eating, I got into a healthy routine for exercising, and I decided to honor my bodies hunger and always eat enough to satisfy it. I gave up dieting and weighing myself. I decided to love myself at any weight my body chose to be. I decided to step out of the cycle of hunger and guilt. There was NO way I was going to be able to be happy hungry for the rest of my life. I now maintain my weight within a healthy range and I eat whatever appeals to me. Life is good. My weight isn't what I plan my happiness around anymore. If I gain, so be it. It's okay to take up space in the world. Feel free to pm me anytime.
  10. Water is a huge struggle. Eventually you will be able to drink it in large amounts again. Right now your stomach can't handle it. Sips is all you can do throughout the day. It will get better.
  11. bellabloom

    Tailbone pain??????

    Always. Always always. And as I lost fat from my but it only got worse. I'm sorry. Try to limit sitting.
  12. bellabloom

    Sharp pains

    Errrrrr. How far out are you? I had this and it was gallbladder stones.
  13. bellabloom

    Condiments?

    I ate them all the time while I was losing. Salsa barely has any calories. Hot sauce has almost no calories. Ketchup and BBQ sauce can add up... just keep it in moderate amounts. Condiments are my life!!!
  14. I'm not sure how far out you are... probably brand new. In the beginning I did mostly soups. A cup of soup. Mozzarella stick... no not a good idea right now. That could cause dumping and the cheese could get stuck. Hang in there. It gets better I promise. 3 years out I can eat a whole chipotle burrito (and I do!) lol.
  15. Totally agree this is offensive. This poster likes to be negative towards people and posters like this have chased many veterans away sadly. It's horrible for a person who has had wls surgery to judge other wls individuals. Not everyone is "successful" and it's a very complicated process for people. Being a failure at wls surgery is extremely common and says nothing about that persons determination or worth, period.
  16. I think my story could be interesting for you to read. I do not "regret" surgery. I am glad I did it and have lost all of my excess weight. But it came at a huge cost for me. You can read about my journey in my posts. I have been asked many times if I regret surgery and would do it again, because of the difficulty I went through. The answer to that is still yes, I would do it again. I don't think it's as simple as saying, do I regret it. I think it's more about realizing this is a hard process and it's also not a guarantee of weight loss. If someone does wls and does not lose or regains- you BET YOUR ASS they will regret it. Omg. To think of living with the stomach I have now and also being at my heavier weight. Wow. That would suck. I live with complications but being at a lower weight makes it worth it. And you can't know for sure if you will lose. I know a lot of people who did not lose much. Our bodies are all different. Our bodies fight back hard against weight loss through dietary restriction. They don't like to be starved. If someone doesn't lose it's because their body is really good at preventing starvation. Or it's their mindset- they cannot break the need in their mind to continue their learned habits. They don't know how to stop the process of guilt eating. It's not their fault. My suggestion for you is to really consider the cost of this surgery physically, the potential you won't lose, your other options for weight stabilization, how much your weight really matters and effects your life, and wether there are other problems you need to face in your life that could be more helpful than weight loss. I highly recommend therapy before and after wls from an eating disorder specialist.
  17. bellabloom

    Vet willing to support others

    Hi beautiful!! You're so funny. I wish I could help you with your height and age goals but I think that's out of my reach. I'm sure your amazing and lovely just the way you are. Plus being tall isn't that great, I'm taller than all the men I want to go out with!! Pizza on the way home from the hospital... depends on why you went to the hospital. If you were there having wls surgery hahaha no. If you were there visiting a sick friend than yes by all means! I had plastics in Mexico and paid 13,500 for a neck lift, breast lift, and tummy tuck. It all came out absolutely amazing. My surgeon was the best of the best. Worth every penny. My bariatric surgery was complicated because I had to have my bypass reversed and converted to a sleeve. I had seven surgeries in all. Bypass, gallbladder removal, exploratory, reversal and conversion to a sleeve, stricture dialation, granuloma in my belly button, and plastics. I couldn't eat solid food for almost a year and became extremely malnourished. During the course of the early surgeries I became physically addicted to narcotics. I had to go to detox to get off of them. Also wls triggered anorexia for me and I had to get treatment for that. So yeah. Complicated. Not to mention the huge life altering experience weight loss can be. The hardest part for me has been maintaining without continuing to diet. I realized I could not continue to live in a diet mentality or I would either remain anorexic or regain all of my weight. I had to get therapy and learn to eat intuitively. I also had to let go of trying to have the perfect body and obsessing about my weight. I had to decide to allow my body to choose its desired weight without interference from me and to be body positive and embrace health at every size. I would say thank you to keeping up the good job... but this isn't a job. This is life. Weight is not your "job". We weren't out on this planet to be skinny and perfect. There are a million other more important things in life than what size ones body is. It's wonderful to have a good relationship with your body- practice self care and self love. But treating your bodies shape like it's your job to make it perfect and it's something that must be done in order to be a valid person... no. Life is so much more than that. I am very happy with my body right now but I have accepted that I am so much happier letting go of perfection. If I gain some weight back... that's okay. I deserve to be happy, nourished, and my body deserves to be healthy.
  18. bellabloom

    My story - lost 120lbs

    Wow. Amazing and well said!!! Yes of course. Our real and perceived issues matter. Our real issues matter the most. Our perceived issue is our inability to control ourself around food. Our real issue is why do we need to desperately try to conform our appearance to societal standards to the point we are willing to starve ourselves. Why is there so much self hatred. In addition a real issue is that we have lost the ability to eat based on our bodies needs and instead we are experiencing over eating based on guilt and emotional pain and a reaction to dieting.
  19. bellabloom

    Dr Carmina Cardenas, Mexico

    I had my surgeries 6 weeks ago. I'm still recovering but almost back to normal. I needed the full 6 weeks.
  20. bellabloom

    Wow. With the exit of so many vets...

    Ever think some people left because a lot of you were really mean to them? I've had many many people message me privately about this. Sorry but it's true. Not gonna name names.
  21. bellabloom

    VET'S FORUM. What the %^&* is going on around here?

    I'd say I'm more of a super hero internet character but that's just me... lol. What you want is advice on how to stay on a diet after weight loss surgery gets less effective. Im sorry to say... eventually everyone will fail a diet or restrictive low calorie meal plan. I think you may just not want to accept what I have to say. I have a very different viewpoint than other people on here and I'm proud of that. I've gone away from diet mentality to intuitive eating and it's worked for me. I'm here to offer body positive messages. I reject the notion that being overweight is a negative thing. I also believe obesity is a mental problem not a physical one. We can agree to disagree and that's fine. I feel I have a valuable perspective to contribute. I went through major complications over this surgery and it came at a huge cost. I had a lot of growth to do and I came away loving myself no matter my weight. I'm just trying to encourage that in others. I most definitely consider myself a vet as I maintain my weight without effort and have extensive experience with wls and weight loss and gain in general. I think this site is wonderful and useful. I like helping new people. The plastic surgery info is great as time moves on. It's a great resource for people with weight loss struggles. It's a good place to discuss a variety of issues.
  22. bellabloom

    VET'S FORUM. What the %^&* is going on around here?

    If losing weight was a question of being able to follow food rules no one would need this surgery. Obviously the majority of people who need this surgery are extremely fucked up about food. Why do you think that would get magically better by having their stomachs taken out? All this surgery does is force you to follow a diet by physically punishing you if you don't, until the effects of it end and then you're right back where you started, a disordered eater. This surgery should not be based on preliminary psych Evals- it should be required that patients go through therapy before during and after surgery to normalize their eating. It really bugs me when fat people judge other fat people. Ever heard of throwing stones at glass houses? Judging someone for failing wls is cruel.
  23. bellabloom

    So where are 30 somethings shopping?

    Anthropologists, Bebe, banana republic, tj max, special Boutiques in town, urban outfitters is my fav
  24. bellabloom

    Plastic's in Mexico?!!

    Dr carmina cardenas recently did my tummy tuck, breast lift and neck lift. She is amazing. She is in Tijuana. You can read her reviews on real self. She is a former bariatric patient herself and is the kindest and most commentary doctor. Yes it sucked traveling but it saved me $15,000 dollars.
  25. bellabloom

    Neck Lift

    Dr carmina cardenas just did my neck lift and mastoplexy in Tijuana. She is amazing and so far I love my results. It was around $4500. I was quoted 13,000 in the USA for the same thing.

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