bellabloom

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.

 

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.

 

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

Hey, I’m a vet about um 4 years? I guess 4 in December. I lose track. I check in on these boards now and then.
I don’t spend much time on here for a couple reasons.. one being that I’ve just moved on with my life and weight really isn’t a big factor for me anymore.
The other is that for some reason in my generation of 2014-2015 vets there were some serious assholes. Mean, snarky, judgmental, all or nothing, never eat again etc jerks.
But I do like to check in now and then and help people out. I’m always up for a pm and I will get back eventually! [emoji6]

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.

 

Hey, I’m a vet about um 4 years? I guess 4 in December. I lose track. I check in on these boards now and then.
I don’t spend much time on here for a couple reasons.. one being that I’ve just moved on with my life and weight really isn’t a big factor for me anymore.
The other is that for some reason in my generation of 2014-2015 vets there were some serious assholes. Mean, snarky, judgmental, all or nothing, never eat again etc jerks.
But I do like to check in now and then and help people out. I’m always up for a pm and I will get back eventually! [emoji6]

Hey!
So I've left dieting behind. I no longer weigh myself. I don't count my calories or macros or Protein grams. I have no idea what I eat in a day, it's always different and I actually forget.
I exercise for fun and enjoyment but not for weight regulation. If I don't feel like working out, I don't.
Bariatric surgery helped me lose 100 lbs but it also caused a great deal of pain in my life. I struggle to this day with food getting stuck, vomiting, and dumping.
I have rejected dieting because after my weight loss I realized I was just as miserable and unhappy as prior to my weight loss. Living a life centered around food, dieting, weight and body imagine was taking all the joy out of my world. I didn't feel at ease- I felt the same amount of stress and anxiety around food as before weight loss- maybe more So now that I was thin and felt I had more to lose if I regained. Basically I was still stuck in an eating disorder and diet mindset and it was ruining my life.
I now eat by INTUITIVE EATING. It is a book I read and a way of eating that was presented to me when I went through eating disorder therapy. I eat by my hunger.. if I'm hungry I eat and if I'm not, I don't. Well.. sometimes I still do. Basically these days I just don't think about it that much. I just eat.
I can eat normal to large portion sizes now. I eat a wide variety of foods including sweets and fried food. I don't love processed Snacks but sometimes I still eat those too. I'd say I eat a fairly healthy diet nutrition wise- I eat my fair share of veggies and fruit but I definitely don't ponder about it- I just eat what appeals to me. I like salads as much as I like cake and protein.
I initially gained about 10lbs, but I was underweight at a BMI of 17. My weight has remained stable for about a year now, as far as I know.
If anyone wants to know more feel free to get in touch. I'm happy to talk about my experiences.
 

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.
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. 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.

Wanted to update- i weighed myself today out of curiosity. I haven't in months. I have actually lost a few pounds since I really committed to Intuitive Eating full force and since the last time I weighed myself. I weigh exactly what I wish to weigh.
So there ya go! Do what you will but there is a life beyond dieting forever. I am the proof.
Me today. Today I ate a Breakfast sandwich, a bite of chocolate croissant, some icee of my kids, a goat cheese chicken salad, a glass of wine, a cheeseburger, 2 Mai thais, and an egg sandwich and a cookie.

Yes I have dumping but my surgery was more complicated than most. It's rare to have it with the sleeve. I get it and it sucks so bad. But it's getting better.
I've been eating Intuitively for about a year now with some small relapses back into dieting and that mindset but not for more than a day or so.
The last 3 months I've REALLY let go and stopped weighing myself EVER, stopped even considering what I eat. I eat so much, always listening to my body and it's cravings. I eat all kinds of foods from fresh to processed and savory to sweet. I eat carbs all the time. I love Desserts. I drink alcohol. I enjoy whatever I want. I've not been actively dieting for a year at least but now I've really, really let go of the fear and I'm continuing to make progress. I don't worry about wether I'm eating too much, grazing, eating something fattening. I have really just LET GO.
I eat when I'm hungry and when I'm full I stop. Honestly I just don't even think about it. I follow my bodies cravings.
I have gained no weight. I'm exactly the same. If anything, I've lost. I don't know. I don't care. I don't weigh myself. BUT my clothes all still fit perfectly. But who cares anyway.
My life is finally where I want it to be and I am free.
I will never ever go back to dieting. I truly believe Intuitive Eating will keep me healthy for the rest of my life.
Picture of me and my daughter a few days ago.

Hey!
So I've left dieting behind. I no longer weigh myself. I don't count my calories or macros or Protein grams. I have no idea what I eat in a day, it's always different and I actually forget.
I exercise for fun and enjoyment but not for weight regulation. If I don't feel like working out, I don't.
Bariatric surgery helped me lose 100 lbs but it also caused a great deal of pain in my life. I struggle to this day with food getting stuck, vomiting, and dumping.
I have rejected dieting because after my weight loss I realized I was just as miserable and unhappy as prior to my weight loss. Living a life centered around food, dieting, weight and body imagine was taking all the joy out of my world. I didn't feel at ease- I felt the same amount of stress and anxiety around food as before weight loss- maybe more So now that I was thin and felt I had more to lose if I regained. Basically I was still stuck in an eating disorder and diet mindset and it was ruining my life.
I now eat by INTUITIVE EATING. It is a book I read and a way of eating that was presented to me when I went through eating disorder therapy. I eat by my hunger.. if I'm hungry I eat and if I'm not, I don't. Well.. sometimes I still do. Basically these days I just don't think about it that much. I just eat.
I can eat normal to large portion sizes now. I eat a wide variety of foods including sweets and fried food. I don't love processed Snacks but sometimes I still eat those too. I'd say I eat a fairly healthy diet nutrition wise- I eat my fair share of veggies and fruit but I definitely don't ponder about it- I just eat what appeals to me. I like salads as much as I like cake and protein.
I initially gained about 10lbs, but I was underweight at a BMI of 17. My weight has remained stable for about a year now, as far as I know.
If anyone wants to know more feel free to get in touch. I'm happy to talk about my experiences.
 

Eyes! Beautiful!

Beautiful!

bellabloom wow, what an incredible transformation, youre absolutely stunning! also great to see you maintain that weight loss years later. im 4.5 years out now and glad to have kept the weight off too. its not easy but making the right food choices and exercising is now a lifelong commitment. best of luck...

Hey, I’m a vet about um 4 years? I guess 4 in December. I lose track. I check in on these boards now and then.
I don’t spend much time on here for a couple reasons.. one being that I’ve just moved on with my life and weight really isn’t a big factor for me anymore.
The other is that for some reason in my generation of 2014-2015 vets there were some serious assholes. Mean, snarky, judgmental, all or nothing, never eat again etc jerks.
But I do like to check in now and then and help people out. I’m always up for a pm and I will get back eventually! [emoji6]

Yes. It’s harder to understand post op. It takes being at a certain place to relate I think. o hope you are doing great!

Welcome back! Good to have you back. I was following your posts pre-surgery and have a new understanding and appreciation for them now that I’m post-op.

Congrats, Bella, on escaping from your food demons. Good for you May we all be as successful.

So pretty both before and now.

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.

 

It’s amazing how much animosity there exists on bariatric pal these days. Whatever happened to just being chill? anyway.
Just wanted to update, I am still doing really well. My weight is holding steady although my body composition has changed due to plastic surgery. This year I’ve had a lot and it’s getting used to a whole new me. My waist is tiny, my butt is big, my boobs are little... lol. Hello.
So I’m buying different clothes and trying to get used to the changes now that I’m finally on the mend.
It’s interesting because once I finished the plastic surgeries I found that I felt basically the same but not that into caring about my looks like I did before. I’m content but not obsessed. I used to try a lot harder to stand out where now.. I just am focused on other things. I’ve been able to turn my attention away from my size and shape and back to things like my job and family. And that is a relief. There is definitely a time after wls where the whole world revolves around the physical changes one is going through.
These days I have a really nice boyfriend who is super supportive of me. He is helping me overcome some obstacles around my eating behavior that I still struggle with because of my surgery. I have some long lasting physical effects and we are working to see if I can get past those. He’s very supportive about my weight and never lets me slide into negative self talk.
I know that the hardest thing for me in all of this has been dealing with my self image and my value system. I have days where I feel a lot of anxiety and I feel enormous again. I have to remind myself, “fat” is not a feelings. Just because I may feel a certain way doesn’t correlate to how I look. I struggle with body dysmophia still. To this day I am shocked when I see a picture of me and I’m thin. It’s hard to get your mind to catch up with your body.
And then there is the notion that - does it matter? Is weight an item by which a person can be judged? No it isn’t. Is losing weight worthwhile? For me it was. But not for everyone. Just because we may want to lose weight doesn’t mean everyone over weight should or needs to. I have to remember not to judge myself by my looks. It’s a lifetime of habitual self judgement to undo.
My eating patterns remain the same. I try really hard not to skip back into dieting. I believe in intuitive eating and I love the health and freedom it has given me. Sometimes I miss dieting though. Not because I want to e thinner but because I miss the illusion of control and the patterns of restriction I was raised with. That belief of “my weight controls my happiness” and “dieting is what we should do as women” is really hard to overcome. I have moments where I get triggered and I fight those.
I haven’t weighed my self in a very long time. I feel like I look different but in a positive way. My clothes still fit, I wear a size 2. I know I’m at a healthy weight and no one makes comments that I am too thin anymore so that’s a relief.
I did several plastic surgery procedures this year which I am at the end of. I haven’t been working out at all because of this but now I am going back and look forward to rebuilding my muscular strength. I love to run and lift weights.
My meals are just the same as they were.. I usually skip breakfast or sometimes eat some toast a bagel or an omelet.
I eat a big lunch, usually at a restaurant or a sandwich with a avocado and lots of cheese.
I eat a light dinner.. I kinda suck at dinner. So usually a snack then. And right before bed I eat a big meal.. dinner left overs or a burrito or microwave meal and sometimes desert. Sometimes I eat in the middle of the night too but not as much lately. I pay pretty little attention to what I eat.
One thing though lately is I have been struggling with a lot of gas pain. I’ve seemed to become intolerant to garlic and Beans and some other foods. I’m trying to figure out what that’s about.
Anyhow! Feel free to pm me anytime. I’m happy to discuss intuitive eating.
Here are some recent pictures.
Day of my surgery 12/2014

Couple weeks ago

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.

 

It’s amazing how much animosity there exists on bariatric pal these days. Whatever happened to just being chill? anyway.
Just wanted to update, I am still doing really well. My weight is holding steady although my body composition has changed due to plastic surgery. This year I’ve had a lot and it’s getting used to a whole new me. My waist is tiny, my butt is big, my boobs are little... lol. Hello.
So I’m buying different clothes and trying to get used to the changes now that I’m finally on the mend.
It’s interesting because once I finished the plastic surgeries I found that I felt basically the same but not that into caring about my looks like I did before. I’m content but not obsessed. I used to try a lot harder to stand out where now.. I just am focused on other things. I’ve been able to turn my attention away from my size and shape and back to things like my job and family. And that is a relief. There is definitely a time after wls where the whole world revolves around the physical changes one is going through.
These days I have a really nice boyfriend who is super supportive of me. He is helping me overcome some obstacles around my eating behavior that I still struggle with because of my surgery. I have some long lasting physical effects and we are working to see if I can get past those. He’s very supportive about my weight and never lets me slide into negative self talk.
I know that the hardest thing for me in all of this has been dealing with my self image and my value system. I have days where I feel a lot of anxiety and I feel enormous again. I have to remind myself, “fat” is not a feelings. Just because I may feel a certain way doesn’t correlate to how I look. I struggle with body dysmophia still. To this day I am shocked when I see a picture of me and I’m thin. It’s hard to get your mind to catch up with your body.
And then there is the notion that - does it matter? Is weight an item by which a person can be judged? No it isn’t. Is losing weight worthwhile? For me it was. But not for everyone. Just because we may want to lose weight doesn’t mean everyone over weight should or needs to. I have to remember not to judge myself by my looks. It’s a lifetime of habitual self judgement to undo.
My eating patterns remain the same. I try really hard not to skip back into dieting. I believe in intuitive eating and I love the health and freedom it has given me. Sometimes I miss dieting though. Not because I want to e thinner but because I miss the illusion of control and the patterns of restriction I was raised with. That belief of “my weight controls my happiness” and “dieting is what we should do as women” is really hard to overcome. I have moments where I get triggered and I fight those.
I haven’t weighed my self in a very long time. I feel like I look different but in a positive way. My clothes still fit, I wear a size 2. I know I’m at a healthy weight and no one makes comments that I am too thin anymore so that’s a relief.
I did several plastic surgery procedures this year which I am at the end of. I haven’t been working out at all because of this but now I am going back and look forward to rebuilding my muscular strength. I love to run and lift weights.
My meals are just the same as they were.. I usually skip breakfast or sometimes eat some toast a bagel or an omelet.
I eat a big lunch, usually at a restaurant or a sandwich with a avocado and lots of cheese.
I eat a light dinner.. I kinda suck at dinner. So usually a snack then. And right before bed I eat a big meal.. dinner left overs or a burrito or microwave meal and sometimes desert. Sometimes I eat in the middle of the night too but not as much lately. I pay pretty little attention to what I eat.
One thing though lately is I have been struggling with a lot of gas pain. I’ve seemed to become intolerant to garlic and Beans and some other foods. I’m trying to figure out what that’s about.
Anyhow! Feel free to pm me anytime. I’m happy to discuss intuitive eating.
Here are some recent pictures.
Day of my surgery 12/2014

Couple weeks ago

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.

 

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.