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.
 

I'm surprised how much this comes up. Not to be judge mental- but you know that weed increases your appetite right?
Do you think maybe now is the time to quit for good? It's not really addictive physically and it's pretty hard not to eat while high. I think quitting before your surgery is a really really good idea. Bypass is very different than the sleeve, you cannot get away with as much. You don't want to be smoking after having this done, trust me. The munchies would feel like torture to me.
Weed slows you down, basically makes you fat and lazy!! (When your high anyway). I know from experience how weed affects people and their lives. Maybe you should take this opportunity to turn a corner and stop using, get on the right track with your energy and lifestyle?
I don't know much about you, maybe you have chronic pain or something like that. But I can't think of many reasons to smoke weed. It makes people depressed and apathetic. I'm from hum olds country the weed capital of America so I know a lot about this!!!
Quit that shite!!
Plus they urine test you in the hospital and if you pee dirty you may have an issue!

Had some fun trying on my old fat clothes yesterday.
Sw: 245
Cw: 122
Height 5'6
 
I can't believe these used to fit me!! Size 20 to size 2. Wow.
Some more pictures for you...
Before:
 
Now:
  

I started at 240 and now weigh 123. I'm 5'6 and 34 years old.
    

I guess it depends on what your willing to go through to lose weight and how important it really is to you. At a bmi of 30 you're not going to convince me you have major life threatening health problems that you need to have this huge body altering operation to resolve.
I'm not judging. I've had wls. I had a bmi of 38. I stuffed my pockets with weights to qualify lol. I lost 120 lbs.
Did it resolve how I felt about my self image? No. That took a lot of therapy. Did it resolve my back issues? No. That took exercise. Did it free me from yo yo dieting and having to count calories And go on diets and be hungry? Nope. That took eating disorder therapy and learning how to eat correctly.
The effects of this surgery in terms of restriction are temporary. Eventually you can eat again. Count on it. All it will do is give you a break from having to try so hard and get you kick started towards weight loss. It's not magic. And it does not last.
What does last are the effects of having your stomach removed. Dumping lasts. Having difficulty eating things lasts. For me frequent vomiting and pain has lasted.
That said.. would I do it again? Yes. I had a huge amount of weight I wanted to lose. It was overwhelming. There was no way I could accept myself at my high weight. I was at rock bottom. The surgery forced me to get treatment for my issues- my disordered eating and my self imagine and boundary problems. It leveled my life and took me to the core of my problems.
But I had to give up dieting in the end to get healthy and I had to get away from any kind of disordered food restrictions. And now I have to live with my issues physically.
At a 30 bmi, my opinion, is you are WAY BETTER OFF getting therapy for disordered eating and losing weight in a sustainable way because this surgery is not one. My prediction is if you do the surgery you will lose weight and in one or two years end up regaining and again struggling and in exactly the same place except even more frightened of weight and obsessed with food and insecure.
If you do take surgery as your option, please take my advice, which come from a good and experienced place - seek therapy for your food and self image issues throughout.
I also want to say, being overweight is not ugly, it is not a crime, and does not say anything negative about you. Neither does choosing weight loss surgery. Losing weight is hard and it's hard to live in this world where we are judged so harshly. Weight loss surgery can be well worth it. In my case, it was. Just know it comes at a COST.

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.
 

Yes I suppose. It’s just to me, the gym should be a safe place. Women are wearing spandex and bending over etc- we need to feel safe and comfortable. I want to be able to work out without being hit on in a yucky way. I think the gym should be off limits for immature behavior.
But to each their own. [emoji4]
What strikes me about your original post was that at first, you assumed you were being insulted. When In fact, you were being “checked out” in a positive way. For many of us, I thinks it’s hard to let go of the negative assumptions and see ourselves how others see us after weight loss. Letting go of the old body image can be hard, letting go of the defensive mindset. Just something to think about for all of us vets.

I think they were remarking you were hot.
Report them anyway. The gym isn’t the place for locker room bullshit. Assholes.
I’d smile sweetly, walk away, and report them.

Yes I suppose. It’s just to me, the gym should be a safe place. Women are wearing spandex and bending over etc- we need to feel safe and comfortable. I want to be able to work out without being hit on in a yucky way. I think the gym should be off limits for immature behavior.
But to each their own. [emoji4]
What strikes me about your original post was that at first, you assumed you were being insulted. When In fact, you were being “checked out” in a positive way. For many of us, I thinks it’s hard to let go of the negative assumptions and see ourselves how others see us after weight loss. Letting go of the old body image can be hard, letting go of the defensive mindset. Just something to think about for all of us vets.

I guess it depends on what your willing to go through to lose weight and how important it really is to you. At a bmi of 30 you're not going to convince me you have major life threatening health problems that you need to have this huge body altering operation to resolve.
I'm not judging. I've had wls. I had a bmi of 38. I stuffed my pockets with weights to qualify lol. I lost 120 lbs.
Did it resolve how I felt about my self image? No. That took a lot of therapy. Did it resolve my back issues? No. That took exercise. Did it free me from yo yo dieting and having to count calories And go on diets and be hungry? Nope. That took eating disorder therapy and learning how to eat correctly.
The effects of this surgery in terms of restriction are temporary. Eventually you can eat again. Count on it. All it will do is give you a break from having to try so hard and get you kick started towards weight loss. It's not magic. And it does not last.
What does last are the effects of having your stomach removed. Dumping lasts. Having difficulty eating things lasts. For me frequent vomiting and pain has lasted.
That said.. would I do it again? Yes. I had a huge amount of weight I wanted to lose. It was overwhelming. There was no way I could accept myself at my high weight. I was at rock bottom. The surgery forced me to get treatment for my issues- my disordered eating and my self imagine and boundary problems. It leveled my life and took me to the core of my problems.
But I had to give up dieting in the end to get healthy and I had to get away from any kind of disordered food restrictions. And now I have to live with my issues physically.
At a 30 bmi, my opinion, is you are WAY BETTER OFF getting therapy for disordered eating and losing weight in a sustainable way because this surgery is not one. My prediction is if you do the surgery you will lose weight and in one or two years end up regaining and again struggling and in exactly the same place except even more frightened of weight and obsessed with food and insecure.
If you do take surgery as your option, please take my advice, which come from a good and experienced place - seek therapy for your food and self image issues throughout.
I also want to say, being overweight is not ugly, it is not a crime, and does not say anything negative about you. Neither does choosing weight loss surgery. Losing weight is hard and it's hard to live in this world where we are judged so harshly. Weight loss surgery can be well worth it. In my case, it was. Just know it comes at a COST.

I'll play.

I started at a size 20.
I'm a size 2-4 now.
I'm over 3 years out.



I'm on the far left.


Me now

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!!!

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!!!

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.
 

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.
 

Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Lol. [emoji8] hang in there. I know dieting sucks.

Hey everyone. 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.
   

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.
 

Yes I suppose. It’s just to me, the gym should be a safe place. Women are wearing spandex and bending over etc- we need to feel safe and comfortable. I want to be able to work out without being hit on in a yucky way. I think the gym should be off limits for immature behavior.
But to each their own. [emoji4]
What strikes me about your original post was that at first, you assumed you were being insulted. When In fact, you were being “checked out” in a positive way. For many of us, I thinks it’s hard to let go of the negative assumptions and see ourselves how others see us after weight loss. Letting go of the old body image can be hard, letting go of the defensive mindset. Just something to think about for all of us vets.

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.
 

Absolutely.
Revealing too much on the first few dates is not a great idea. For one thing, you don't even know if you are interested in them. Then some ****** is going around with private information about you. Wait until the relationship deserves that kind of personal information investment. It can also be overwhelming for people to know too much too soon. Get to know each other without all the past there hanging over everything.
Not to mention all the dung brains out there who don't know anything about this surgery or what it's like to struggle with weight. You cannot just trust everyone.
Get to know someone and go slow. Reveal as deserved and desired. In dating, go slow.
Plus, when I date a guy I want to know if he is s superficial a*****e. I've had so many guys start talking trash on over weight women in front of me now that I am thin. I hate that and it helps me see their true colors of they do it, assuming I've always been thin. Jerks.

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.
 

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.
 

All these photos are so great. It’s so nice to see people changing their life and fighting for their health and hopefully mental well being as well. here I am 3 years after my sleeve.