DarkerIncubi

Hi, I'm 3 months out from my surgery and starting to dine out. I find I overeat pretty regularly when I do this. I set aside a portion to start with and plan to eat only that. I tend to pick at what is left over, or bread left on the table, etc. Sometimes I don't intentionally do it, and just find myself picking out of habit. What strategies do people have for dealing with this? What different things do people do to avoid this? Thanks!

Thanks everyone! Heading out for Thai tonight and I'll try some of these out.

Low Vitamin B-12 levels will cause mood instability. Since the part of your stomach that enables B12 absorption has been removed, you need to supplement or you develop a deficiency. Before you look at medication, get your B12 level checked and get on monthly injections if it is low. You can do this either thru your PCP or a psychiatrist. A good psychiatrist will check this at the outset. If your doctor is comfortable with you, they may even allow you to do your own injection at home.

My bladder was backed up to about 750ml from the saline in the IV's they had me on. No desire to take a leak, just a light pressure. Even when I tried it wouldn't start. I took a hit every 10 minutes from the pain pump for about 30 min before they started the catheter. So no pain going in. Within about 10 minutes about 600ml had collected in the bag. They kept it in overnight and removed it in the morning. They wouldn't let me leave until I'd pissed normally and proved it to them in a piss bottle. Not a problem.

I've lost 63#. I took a nap the other day and forgot to put my CPAP on. AFAIK things were OK. My wife was nearby and says she didn't hear any snoring. So I guess I'm ready to stop using it, but that isn't really a goal right now. I'll probably stop when I'm down to my target weight.

I purchase from costco or either of these 2 websites. They have free shipping on orders over a certain value. http://www.luckyvitamin.com/ http://www.iherb.com/

When I'm on a strict diet (as I am with the gastric sleeve) I find it is helpful to cheat 1-3 meals/week, mostly Friday and going into the weekend. Usually one meal is nice, greasy American food such as burgers or pizza or a frappe. Another meal is usually at at a nice restaurant and I don't want to worry about "Protein first", and just pick what I want off the menu. I don't do doggy bags so I don't have to worry about eating poorly during the week. I have to do portion control due to the sleeve so I can't very far over to the dark side. The food diary (myfitnesspal) is helpful because it quantifies the extra calories and provides some perspective on my meal habits. Typically I have a 500 calorie day and if I have a 1000 calorie day every now and then, so what? I still lost weight on the 1000 calorie day. This perspective helps me avoid self defeating thinking such as "I ate poorly yesterday and screwed up. So I'll just eat what I want today, since I already broke things yesterday".

I am 49 and was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder ~10 years ago. I started this thread back in November, check it out: http://www.crazymeds.us/CrazyTalk/index.php/topic/27707-bipolar-and-gastric-sleeve-any-success-and-failure-stories/ In all likelihood the surgery will not help your mood. If you're down from 310 to 274 you would probably feel some relief already. If not, don't expect anything new. Don't look for permission from your pdoc. You can ask her questions such as "Do you have any patients who have done this, and what was their experience?" or "Do you think the surgery will have any impact on my medication dosages?". You should have her take blood levels on all meds possible (probably just the anticonvulsants) prior to the surgery so you will have baseline levels in case of mood troubles. Good luck with whatever direction you choose.