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I have not seen the movie but am glad to hear that you have taken steps to get yourself healthy! Like you I was a workaholic who paid no attention to my own health. I traveled for work and went to fabulous restaurants which only made things worse for me. I tried every fad diet know and would drop 50 to 60 lbs only to put it all right back on and then some. Last December I was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney disease which was the result of taking meds for migraines and other auto immune illnesses. It was at this time that my new kidney doctor asked if I had ever thought about WLS. He helped me understand I could not continue to ignore my health or I would be looking at a transplant. I am happy to say I moved forward and took control of my well being. I had my surgery in late September. I have dropped over 50lbs already. I am off almost all meds. My kidney function has greatly improved. My type 2 diabetes is in remission! My Mother passed away at 66, I wanted to make sure that I did not do that to my children and Grandchildren. I was certainly well on my way. It has been the best decision I ever made! Good luck on your journey! I am sure you will not regret it.

I think this is definitely a personal choice that should be made with the aid of your surgical team. Comorbidities should play big role in your decision making. If you suffer from diabetes and Gerd, RNY is an excellent option to assist in making those illnesses go away. Gerd is a huge factor in deciding between RNY and the sleeve. RNY is the best option if you have that problem, the sleeve makes that worse. I am not sure about the lap band as many surgeons are offering it but it seems like it is falling to the bottom of their list. I was told if you are very young (and in good health, able to exercise alot) the band was a a option. You have to work much harder at the band. You still have to eat right and excercise with the other options as well, We were just told that the band is much more successful on younger, healthier people. Not sure if this is true.

Speaking of good bariatric recipe sites, does anyone else have some good ones?

I am so sorry that happened to you and sorry for your loss! What is wrong with people? I am so glad that you recovered from your depression and have taken steps to get yourself healthy. You are not going to be sorry. I agree with one of the earlier posters, do something nice for someone else. I believe that Karma is a "B". The unkind things that people do will come back to them one way or another. Stay strong and keep us posted on your progress! Good luck!

My last supper was my absolute favorite! Spaghetti and meatballs. I figured I might never see spaghetti again and I wanted to say goodbye. Pasta is definitely a trigger food for me. I never even considered "cheating" on the pre op diet. I knew that the purpose was to shrink my liver to make surgery safest for me. I was absolutely going to have the best best possible outcome and recovery. I also knew once I decided to move forward with something, I have a ton of will power and can do anything. I feel like I fought too hard and it was important to keep my eye on the prize. I am 7 weeks post op. I have dropped 4 clothing sizes, off all diabetes meds and off many other meds. I am not stopping for anything. I have not felt this good in years! You can do this! The first couple days are the hardest. Keep your eye on the prize! Good luck and keep us posted!

I have not yet had an episode of dumping. I try to stay away from sugary foods as much as possible to avoid that. I do not use sugar substitutes so I do have to be very careful. I wonder if I just might be one of the lucky folks that will not suffer from dumping. I am not going to find out, I have been conditioning my body to believe it to be true because I want to change my lifestyle. If there was one type of food that I gravitated toward before surgery it was definitely sweets. I was not a big eater, simply loved my sugar. Now, I could care less if I ever eat sweets again.

This is kind of funny, I am 7 weeks post op tomorrow. I wear two very beautiful rings that I will never take off. In fact I made my husband hold them in his pocket while I went in for surgery and made them give them back when I got to my room. I started losing weight so quickly that withi two weeks post off one of them was spinning completely around and the other was quite loose as well. At 4 weeks 1 went flinging off my ring hang when I went to pick something up off the table. I went into the jeweler and the actually put an insert on them that will allow me to tighten them as I continue to lose weight. Once I have reached my goal, we will permanently size them. One of my rings was actually 3 sizes too big in a matter of weeks. It seems like the first place to lose.

I am not familiar with that bottle however I did ask my team about using straws going forward and was told to refrain. The reason is that you suck air into your pouch which takes up space, can cause pain and even could cause stretching. I did ask if this was temporary or if forever and was told it was a good idea not to use them for good. Has anyone else heard this?

I weigh my self every morning as part of my routine. I do this because I track it on my fitness pal as part of my daily routine as well and would not remember if it was weekly. Also, I don't get hung up if I don't lose anything, it just helps me know that I need to pay attention. I have set NON scale goals so I really don't care what the scale says. Although I do get excited to see myself losing, it makes this all worth while. I suffer from Psoriatic Arthritis and have not been able to ride a real bike since I had back surgery in 2001. My number 1 goal is to get back on a bike this spring and ride it around my neighborhood. As long as my weight gets in line and I keep up strength training, I will make that first goal.

I had a full Bypass back in September. I am only able to eat less than 1/4 cup of food and that is pushing it. The only time I can get to that much is if I eat yogurt. For some reason my grouch pouch makes more room for yogurt. I would definitely check with your doctor. I am not familiar with how much room you should have in the mini bypass vs. a regular bypass but if you are worried, I would certainly follow up with your team. Good luck!

Hi There,

I too take meds to keep migraine severe migraines at bay. I have noticed since I have lost my first 50 lbs that I was feeling very lethargic and tired. I am only 7 weeks out so of course I am assuming this has a lot to due with just getting better from surgery. I actually had to go in and have my Vitamin levels checked out this week to make sure because it got so bad there were a couple of times I thought I was going to pass out. The meds they were giving me to keep my migraines at bay was actually now causing a low blood pressure and heart rate because of my weight loss. The good news was, I had not had a migraine since my surgery. The bad news, I have been off the meds for the last two days and it is taking my body a lot to get use to this much faster heart rate. I am very jittery, I can feel my heart in my ears (it is normal, I have taken my blood pressure several times a day). And of course yesterday I had a migraine. YUCK! I am hoping my body is just getting used to not having this drug in my system. I am definitely NOT relaxed and clenching my jaw. I was only on a low dose of Propanol but I think we should have cut it in half instead of just stopping it. Anyway......I do think that those meds can cause some of the symptoms you are describing. I would check with your doctor right away but make sure there is a plan to wean you off if that is what they decide to do. Good Luck and keep us posted!

I promise your energy will start to come back. It does however take time. The most important thing is to make sure you stay hydrated. And then get your Protein in. If you can keep on on those things, your energy will come back. It just takes some time. I am 7 weeks out and it gets better every day. I still get a bit tired later in the day and I am only getting about 400 calories a day but they are good protein calories. Also, if your clinic has not started you back on Vitamins that will make a huge difference. Hang in there! You are on a terrific journey but it requires patience..... Good Luck!

Sounds right to me too. I am about to start my 7th week and I am still around 400 calories and not seeing how that is going to increase anytime soon.

I have had chronic back pain for more than half my life. I was on narcotic pain killers until about 1.5 years ago when I realized like you they were doing me no good in terms of pain relief. I had 5 back surgeries including spinal fusion. I also had a número stimulator implanted to help with nerve pain in my leg in 2005. Believe it or not, when you take those types of drugs, they actually cause you to feel more pain because you require more of the drug. About a year and a half ago I decided I wanted to know what my pain would be like if I weaned off of pain killers completely, working with my pain clinic, I did that over a couple of months. Now, if I take a Tylenol once every 3 weeks I would be surprised. I suffer from psoriatic arthritis and have learned other methods to deal with my pain. Incidentally in December I was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney disease from all those years of swallowing pain meds. It is the reason I decided to have weight loss surgery and get some weight off my joints. It was one of the best decisions I ever made besides getting off pain meds. Yes, my back still hurts but it is tolerable and I use ice, meditation, and I move around a lot to relieve pain. If I have nerve pain in my leg from my back which is now rare, I use my neurostimulator. Incidentally, since I have lost my first 50, I am now able to get around and exercise a lot easier, and I feel like a million bucks compared to 4 years ago. The weight loss has certainly helped. I am looking forward to the next 95 lbs! I wish you all the best, and hope that you find something that will work for you.

I agree! The day I started using my fitness pal was the day I started hitting my goals regularly. It is a great tool and very easy to use. Good luck and congratulations on your new journey!

I also have heard of graze.

I had a similar problem but found it was caused by using regular milk in my protein shakes. They had me switch to lactose free milk and it went away. Not sure if you are at that stage yet.

I cannot wait unti I get to the stage where I can use a wont ton wrapper for a taco shell. I miss crunchy stuff and raw veggies. I would kill for a salad!

I am currently at almost 7 weeks post op. Thankfully I have not experienced dumping syndrome at this point and will continue to do everything in my power to ensure that does not happen. I have to remind myself to eat at meal times and then when I do I only have to eat a few fork or spoonfuls to already have a sense of being full. Sometimes I feel like why did I go to all this trouble to make this for myself for a few small bites. Then I remember how awesome it is that I am losing all this weight and doing so well so quickly.

Thanks so much everyone! I am definitely looking forward to the next 6 weeks and what it will bring.

What a great day I had today! I am currently 6.5 weeks post op from RNY gastric bypass and doing very well. I had to see my Endocrinologist because my hair started coming out weeks ago. I knew it was probably too soon for the surgery to impact it and I have been doing a pretty good job on Protein. I suspected my thyroid replacement needed to be adjusted because of my weight loss or my Iron might be getting low. I am a type 2 diabetic and had high cholesterol. I have been off all diabetes meds and cholesterol meds since surgery so we wanted to just see what losing 50 lbs would do. Well I got my results today and everything was actually normal with the exception of my thyroid. We did need to adjust that. Also my blood pressure was below normal so we made a decision to pull me off blood pressure meds today too. I took these for migraine prevention which by the way have all but disappeared with my new low carb, high protein diet. Yeah me!! I almost cannot believe what has happened to my health and body in 6 short weeks! Then I had to go to the clothing store because I am headed to Vegas next week and I literally do not fit in any of my clothing. I used to wear a size 24 pants and a size 26/28 top. Today I am in a size 18 Jeans and an 18/20 top! I almost cried today! I cannot wait for another 6 weeks when I can actually shop in a normal store. I had to share my excitement with some folks that I know would understand! Thanks for letting me do that. What a fantastic day!

I was able to start it at 4 weeks. It needs to be moist, not dry. Chewed very well. My grouch pouch loves chicken better than any other protein! I eat it almost every day. I wish it loved eggs because I do and I miss them terribly!

It took me 9 months. My insurance required 6 months worth of physician or dietician managed weigh ins, a psychological exam, a mountain of paperwork and then of corse all of the medical tests. It took only 2 days to get the approval back once everything was submitted but my doctors office sat on the paperwork for almost a month before submitting it. The nurse who does that went on vacation and there was a screw up while my stuff sat there. You just have to stay on top of them.

My bariatric team had me get mrs grass chicken noodle soup and cook it up but strain out the noodles. It was a lot more satisfying and did not taste like dish water.