bellabloom

Posting these is hard for me- But if they help someone- I’m all about being real. This is where I came from. Before wls I was at rock bottom in my life. I was overweight, in so much pain, addicted to opiates, in a miserable abusive marriage, terribly unhappy, i could barely work, so hard to walk, so hard to just live. I’d been on or off of a diet since I was eleven. I was constantly binging or starving myself. I’d tried every weight loss plan under the sun and I was totally burnt out. I’d tried therapy, you make it. Perhaps if I’d stuck to therapy that would have worked, but at the point I had surgery I was so exhausted I just needed something sure. I was totally committed to the surgery although i didn’t follow the rules very well, I’ve never been good at self care. I couldn’t take care of myself well before surgery and i struggled to do that afterwards. It has taken a lot of work to get better at that. I went in knowing what could happen and that i wouldn’t be able to eat normally again. It was worth it to me at the time. My surgery had complications but the weight loss was easy due to a severe stricture that I had, plus i was just determined to lose the weight- nothing was gonna stop me. I did really well eating very little for a long time, I was so burnt out on food i was able to break my codependent behavior towards it. Maintenance was really really hard for me, I had issues with wanting to keep losing weight and not being able to stop. I rejected food so hard it was a real struggle to begin eating again and I had to seek therapy for that. I’m doing well now and so much has changed. I have a very different outlook with food. I’ve also gone through plastic surgery 2x and I’m finished with that. I’m at my 3 year surgery anniversary on dec 4. My start weight was 240 and my current weight is between 130-135. I’m 5’6. I went from 240 to 120 in about 10 months. My lowest weight was 115- scary. I’ve since gained to a healthy 130 ish. I try not to slide back into the 120s because I look sick at that weight. I don’t try and maintain my weight through dieting anymore, I practice “Intuitive Eating”. While being thin is nice and my weight is something I care about, these days I try not to weigh myself and I focus on overall health and well being. My next goal is to get more active with weight training and exercise. Surgery is no walk in the park. I had a rough time and I still struggle. But it was worth it for me, as you can see. My weightloss did stall a week or two here and there. I never let that get to me, I just kept my calories low knowing eventually it would start again. During the weightloss phase I tried to focus on my life and stay busy rather than focus on every pound. I definitely ate very very little. I suffered from malnutrition and health problems because of this so I would not recommend it- take your vitamins and get in your protein. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel bad for choosing surgery. And don’t feel bad if weight loss takes you longer than others. My biggest regret is that I didn’t give myself more love before my surgery. But at least I gave myself enough to try and change my life for the better.

Hey all! I wanted to post and update my progress and share my journey for newcomers. I’m three years out of VSG surgery, start weight 240 lbs at 5’6. My lowest weight after surgery was 114. Scary scary thin. After my surgery I could barely eat for an entire year and had malnutrition and many mental and physical barriers to overcome before I began eating again. It took a year to get my stomach straightened out to where I could eat solid food, and another two years to get my mind straightened out to where I was eating enough food. Surgery like this is a big deal, easier for some, harder for others. Because we are a population that struggles with disordered eating behavior and many of us eating disorders, it’s hard to predict how it might affect you. For me, it leveled my life for awhile- but intimately put me into a better place. My life before surgery consisted of constant dieting and deprivation with periods of intense binging on thousands and thousands of calories when I failed on the numerous diets I tried. Surgery was for me a last resort that I believed would stop this cycle and make me effortlessly thin forever or really just take away my ability to eat, because eating was a huge source of emotional pain. Here I am at my lowest weight. That’s some scary ****! I went through some very dark times after surgery that forced me to get super real about what I needed to be happy and healthy. This past year I’ve been consistently rebuilding my health. I began doing this by saying no to dieting and calorie control. No counting, no obsessing, no weighing myself. My life now three years out consists of taking care of my health in a more holistic way. I eat in abundance, and I’ve recently began to be super inspired towards fitness and weight training. My calories average around 2500 per day although I don’t know exactly as I don’t count them. I’ve been able to go a lot of time without reading a food label or thinking too much about what I eat. For me at this point weight has become something that I fight to be at peace with. I try to keep my mind off numbers and I’m focused on just feeling great and strong in my skin. I no longer believe being super thin is the path to happiness. Being able to eat and enjoy food, socialize without worry about food, and be in a healthy body is more important to me. My weight will always be secondary to those things. I’m posting this to give you an idea of what’s possible long term. Surgery is a great tool in some ways but it comes at a high cost. It’s taken me years to rebuild my health and I’m still trying to get my metabolism and muscle mass back to wear it should be. But even without surgery I would have faced a hard road and surgery gave me the push I needed. These days I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time and also I think, healthier. Best wishes on your journey! And remember- you are beautiful right now. Weight doesn’t determine a persons beauty or worth!!!

God I love you [emoji173]️

It was very difficult for me to stop losing weight. I still struggle to keep weight on even three years out. It can be very hard to go from a dieting restrictive mindset to a maintaining weight mindset. I personally did this through adopting intuitive eating. This means I always eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full, and I don’t have any food rules or no foods. This has allowed me to maintain a healthy weight as long as I make sure to eat enough. You could try something what I do, or you could simply track and increase your calories until you find your maintenance level. I would recommend to start by adding more snacks into your day as well as full calorie fats. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

Thanks. No i don’t. I’m done making progress and just in maintenance now.

I’m suddenly having an issue with excessive gas all the time!!! It’s been about two weeks. I just pass gas constantly and I don’t get what is happening. Has anyone else experienced this? Any thoughts what could be the issue? I’m terrified I have a blockage or something. I am three years out.

Hahahahaha. Been there. Lost 15lbs post tummy tuck. Those things are evil. I called my garmet the Colombian torture device.

You will again, don’t worry. Keep going

Dumping ABSOLUTELY HAPPENS AFTER SLEEVE SURGERY. I have a sleeve and I dump often. I have dumped on all kinds of things. High carb food with fats seems to be the most likely to do it for me. In addition, eating too much for my stomach or eating and drinking together- that can trigger it. I dump frequently. It hasn’t helped me avoid trigger foods but it definitely makes me wary. My dumping is hard to predict and catches me by surprise a lot. I can tell I’m going to dump within ten minutes or so of eating. My heart starts to race, I get shaky and super nauseated. I sometimes get so sick I literally cannot move, and sometimes I have to urinate about 5-6 times in a row. The nausea is so intense it floors me. I don’t get diarrhea, just the heavy nausea and fluttering heart and dizziness. It’s a horrible feeling. I’ve seen my doctor and he confirmed this is dumping. You can get dumping with any part of your stomach removed. It’s frequently seen in people that have had stomach cancer. I don’t know why sleevers think they won’t get dumping. I most definitely do, even three years out and it has not gotten any better at all. I can dump on pure proteins although it is much more likely for me to dump from high sugar items.

Hey everyone. [emoji4] I haven’t posted for awhile but i just want to share my story as there are lots of new people flowing through surgery and I’d love to help anyone with my experience. I had wls dec 2014. It was quite an ordeal for me, very painful and I had complications. I weight 243 lbs at my surgery and I’m 5’6. I ended up having five or six surgeries on my stomach over the next 6 months. Gallbladder went, exploratory, revision surgery, a endoscopy for a super bad stricture, a granuloma removed from my belly button ... After my wls I was unable to eat solid food for 10 months due to a severe stricture. I could only eat broth and sometimes cheese. So in a way this helped me reach my weight loss goal and surpass it. At my lowest I weighed 114 lbs. Going through the surgery I realized I had a major eating disorder. I had to come to terms with a lot of emotional turmoil and self hatred, guilt and shame and fear of food and regain. I’m still going through some of it. I was very reluctant to return to normal eating post op even once I could. Losing weight became an unhealthy addiction. I ended up having to seek eating disorder therapy. What I discovered as I clawed my way to better health was that dieting had no place in my life and would never work for me. It made me miserable and there was no future for me if I didn’t stop. I had to fully accept the possibility of regaining weight in order to embrace a non diet approach to weight maintenance. 4 years later I no longer diet or weigh myself on a regular basis. I eat through a method called “intuitive eating” and it has changed my life. I have worked very hard to try and embrace my body even as my weight fluctuates. Some days are easy, some are harder. Many people regain weight after wls. Many people struggle to lose enough. I personally believe this is due to dieting being the reason many of us gain weight in the first place. Most people who are obese are suffering from an eating disorder. I wish I had know that before surgery. I don’t regret surgery in fact I am a huge proponent to weight loss surgery. But I feel a combination approach is necessary long term to keep weight off and also have quality of life. Wls combined with I Intuitive eating has really worked for me. Today I think I weigh around 130 lbs. I’m very thin, I struggle to keep weight on especially as food becomes more and more neutral to me. I forget to eat a lot and I have trouble getting regular meals in because I get busy. But I’m not underweight any more so that’s a big improvement. My health is good but I suffer from dumping syndrome which can be stressful and exhausting. If I eat tom much sugar and fat together I will get it, or if I eat too much food, or put fluid with my food it can happen. I also throw up occasionally especially if I drink while I eat. But if I follow the “rules” I’m mostly okay. But eating slowly and eating the right things becomes very hard and impractical at times so there are still plenty of times I break the rules and suffer for it. For one thing with dumping- I can eat very little protein before I get full. If I wanted to not dump I would have to be low carb- but even eating tons of carbs, sweets and fats I can scarcely maintain my weight, I lose very easily. So a low carb diet is not an option for me even if I wanted to do it. Wls is not something that is an easy fix. It’s a very hard surgery with a lot of longer term consequences. I still feel it was worth it however. Here’s some pics and I’m happy to chat which whoever needs advice.

This sounds like dumping!!

I love it!! Super hot

I had my surgery dec 2014. So three years. There are definitely foods I can eat.. I’m not scary thin anymore. My post was more just about the long term difficulty in getting food down as you continue to move away from surgery and just try and live like a normal person. You can’t ever go back to it being easy. I eat a lot of cheese, that gets me by.

Seeds are fine for me too

I wish I had known- being three years out now, that I would live with long term consequences. I would trade being obese for living with chronic digestive issues, never being able to eat freely or normally again and that meals would always be a struggle. I’m not saying it would have changed my mind. It probably wouldn’t have. Being thinner and healthy is amazing and wonderful. But you have to know, it’s likely you will trade one thing for another.

So beautifully said. Perfectly said. It’s a part of weight loss that isn’t much talked about and integral to losing the fear of regain. I have mirrored your journey. But I have also decided to completely move beyond valuing myself based on a number. I found that in order to be truly happy I had to accept that all “me” was a valid loveable person. The bigger me, the me now. My worth isn’t determined by my weight. This allowed me to let go of the fear of regain and also let go of any dieting behavior. I now eat freely and intuitively and it’s been such a wonderful transition. I’ve embraced my body weighing whatever it needs to to be healthy. That’s when I was really able to find happiness. My weight gain came about from self hatred and shame, feeling like a failure for not being model thin. If I kept holding myself to that standard I would have put myself right back where i started. Thank you for your post, it’s a really important thing to talk about.

Mine is a little different. I’ve actually put weight on in the last year, I think about 10 lbs? Not sure but I’ve gained weight because I’ve eaten more and the weight gain has really improved my appearance and health. I didn’t try to gain weight by stuffing myself or anything I just have allowed my body to weight whatever it wants to. I stoped trying to control it.

I pretty much break all of them. I barely took my vitamins... once I could eat I drank and ate together a ton, still do. I eat sugar and junk food and fried food etc. I drink sodas and red bulls and coffee... tons of bread and candy. I eat bagels every day for breakfast. I eat donuts in the super market standing in line. I don’t count my calories and I don’t weigh myself either. I don’t work out regularly although I do stay active at work. Nothing too active though. I drink carbonated beverages daily. I use straws lol. (Didn’t even know that was a rule) I eat whenever I am hungry. I have no plan whatsoever. I eat pie. I drink mixed drinks and wine and eat tons of super calorie high cheeses and oils. I snack and graze at times. I really pay no attention to what or how I eat. My only rule is : I eat when I’m hungry and stop when I’m satisfied. And other than the occasional dumping and stuff getting stuck I am happier than ever. I maintain at what I guess is my “goal” although sometimes I’m a little under it and sometimes a little over it but usually I’m trying to keep weight on me, not off of me. I’m too thin if anything.

You definitely need to get checked out by a doctor. A general one first and then refer to a gastro. You could have an ulcer etc. our bodies really change from surgery. Get looked at asap.

That’s probably gonna be a normal thing. I still get sick a lot 4 years later. You will learn what does it, but it’s just a consequence of the surgery.

Why do you feel you need to lose more? You look great

Awww. I bet you feel amazing! Cute baby too.

Hey all! Update on me. (And thank you all who have been supportive by the way) I'm doing AWESOME. My weight is extremely stable. I don't weigh myself if I can avoid it (I find numbers upsetting and triggering and pointless) but my clothes all fit and my measurements are the same. That said it's honestly a non issue because I don't care if I get smaller or bigger or whatever because weight just isn't what defines my happiness anymore. I've just finished my second round of plastic surgery in Mexico. I had a lower face lift (for a slight turkey neck and early jowling) and a Brazilian butt lift and I had fat added to my hips to give me a more womanly shape. I LOVE the results I am seeing. In my eating disordered days I always wanted a stick straight and boy like model body. I have changed that mindset and am embracing my Latina heritage and embracing what my body is more inclined to look like. Through the surgery I continued eating intuitively and my recovery has been wayyyy easier this time. I feel it is because I am much healthier and my body is well nourished and strong. I have repaired a lot of the damage dieting did to me. I'm in a new relationship and he has been super supportive. In my dieting days I would tend to pick abusive assholes. This time I have picked someone who supports my choices and builds me up. It's amazing what a well fed mind can do!! I don't live on the edge any more and I don't keep people around who encourage my self esteem and body image issues. My eating behavior has not changed. Once in awhile I will loosely tally up my calories (sadly I still have every single item of food calories burned into my brain) and I find I eat around 2000-3000 calories a day. Usually right around the 2500 mark. I don't do this by thinking about it. That just seems to be what my body needs to be satisfied. What funny is I actually TRIED to put on some weight for my Brazilian butt lift and I FAILED. I don't have much fat in my body, which they needed for the surgery, so I tried to eat more by adding in breakfast and higher calorie foods for about a month before my surgery. I didn't do anything that felt harmful or excessive- just encouraged myself to always eat breakfast, a lot of avocado, adding cheese and mayo more, that sort of thing. And.... Nothing happened. No weight gain. In fact it felt like I LOST weight. [emoji23] In my dieting days with a wrecked metabolism I was able to put on 5lbs in 3 days!!! My body is now at its set point and it just won't allow me to change that so easily. God knows what I would have to do to gain weight at this point. Anyway my butt lift isn't as big as I would have liked it but it still looks great! A few weeks ago I also went on a cruise with my kids. It made me extremely sad to see all the people on the boat gorging themselves and looking so miserable. I've been on 3 cruises in my life. The first one I was 27 thin and bulimic- I threw up everything I ate on the ship and was super sick. The second one I was 33 and obese. I ate till my stomach was going to pop and was super miserable and depressed. This time I'm 37 and a healthy intuitive eater. I ate whatever I wanted to satisfy my hunger and tried not to worry about the food at all. And I was happy. Roughly what I eat: Bagel with avocado for breakfast (Or something like an omelet with tons of Ketchup my favorite food) Maybe some Thai food or tacos or fried calamari for lunch, or salad and sandwich (usually eat out for lunch) Dinner I eat out a lot too or at home rarely. I like all kinds of restaurants. I don't like too cook, it takes up too much time and I work a lot. I like Italian, Mexican, sushi, salads... whatever. [emoji4] so I get a salad and an entree. Entrees are so crazy huge, I almost always have leftovers. Big snack at bedtime. Either the rest of my dinner or a burrito or sandwich or something. This is probably my largest meal of the day. Sometimes dessert. I eat chocolate a lot at like 3 am. I dunno why but my body craves it. And wine. I love wine. All though I have been cutting back lately because it does make me tired and not sleep as well. I'm attaching some fun photos for you all and much love and many blessing to you in your journey!!! It's a journey worth taking to get healthy with food. My life is 1000000x better. Trying to get that booty haha!! Bahahahaa. Cruise photo. All of these are taken within the last month.

I never said I eat "junk food." I eat a lot of healthy quality food. My definition of what that is and your definition probably differ. For those that are wondering my usual diet right now is as follows: Breakfast: Skip it or maybe some eggs Lunch: Thai food Or Sandwich with avocado and lots of cheese Or Sushi ... I eat out a lot for lunch Snack: Beef jerky or maybe a nibble of chocolate Dinner: Salad with cheese Wine Little bit of meat Veggies Late night snack: Usually another dinner- big sandwich Or Tamale Or quesadilla That's basically what I eat. I never over eat. I never binge. I don't have to have cheat days. Intuitive eating basically helps me not really care about food and I am not hungry that much... I just eat when I'm hungry and stop when I am full. I naturally gravitate to healthy fresh foods because processed food makes me feel crappy. I eat food that makes me feel good- not food I am supposed to like according to some diet. I listen to my body. I have not gained weight doing this and I have great energy and feel amazing. Best choice I ever made for myself. The best part! I don't CARE if I gain some weight back because I am actually happy and it isn't what matters most to me anymore. Lots of body types are beautiful. I'm fine with letting my body decide what is a healthy weight for me. A couple days ago. I would be fine with putting some weight on. Doesn't seem to be happening though. Anyway f**k it!! Who cares what I weigh. I'm eating all the foods and living a great life.

I have just had plastic surgery in Mexico. My Dr is Dr Carmina Cardenas and she is located in Tijuana. She is the absolute best thing that has happened to me. I had a neck lift, breast lift, and tummy tuck plus five days stay at her recovery house with 24 hour nursing care for $12750. She has been my hero this whole time. She is beautiful and kind and I have been treated like her daughter. Her office and her hospital, hospital CER, is incredible. The hospital CER specializes in bariatric surgery and plastic surgery. It is nicer than any hospital I've ever been inside of in the USA. I cannot express enough how important having post operative care is after plastic surgery. It would be a nightmare to try and do the at home alone. Plastic surgeons in the USA send you home 2 hours after surgery!!!! That is insane. I stayed the night in the beautiful hospital being check on every hour and now I'm staying 5 days at the recovery house here, all my needs taken care of. Also dr carmina does not use narcotics. She used a pain pump system that has controlled my pain much much better than anything I was ever given in the use. I'm feeling strong and recovering more quickly do to this. Please feel free to pm me if you are considering plastic surgery in Mexico. I cannot recommend my doctor enough. She is amazing. She also had bariatric surgery herself and plastic surgery and she has a deep understanding of the weight loss patients needs.