lauraellen80

To quote Dan Savage, "DTMFA."

(Dump The Mother-F****r Already)

You're not the only one.

I commented in another thread that I am convinced that all the size 6 pairs of pants I now own--actually, size 4 as of yesterday--must be mislabeled. No matter that they are from different stores and are different brands and styles.

I still assume that I'm the fattest person in the room most of the time.

I'm still afraid when my husband picks me up or pulls me onto his lap, worried I'll hurt him.

Logically, I know that I'm smaller... But my gut feeling is still that I'm fat. And of course a lot of it is giving our minds time to catch up with our bodies.

I'm 6.5 months post op. I currently take Water aerobics/toning classes at the Y about 3 times a week, yoga once a week, and I try to walk my dogs most days for 30-40 minutes. I have a Garmin fitness tracker, and I try to get in 10K steps per day.

I like to make cold spinach dip with Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream/mayo and serve with raw veggies instead of bread or crackers.

Oh, and if you are missing the crunch of crackers, I recommend trying cheese crisps. You can make them yourself (shred some cheese, place in little piles on a baking sheet, and bake until crispy) or be lazy like me and buy them at the grocery store.

I sometimes make "hot chocolate" by heating up skim Fairlife milk to 140 degrees and then stirring in a scoop of Syntrax nectar chocolate Truffle flavor. And maybe add a pump or two of sugar-free salted caramel or peppermint Syrup. Never tried mixing it first and then heating!

But I have to say, the lemon or orange flavored ones gross me out even when they are cold. Hot... blech! To each his own, I guess!

My surgeon's guidelines allowed crackers or well-toasted bread fairly early on, but I don't remember exactly when, because I chose not to go down that road. I was cleared for "all" foods at six weeks, but with the caveat that I should be careful introducing bread, Pasta, and rice as those things can be hard to digest post-op, and they can hinder weight loss.

I'm 6 1/2 months post-op, and I have not tried rice or Pasta at all (I have had bean pasta a couple times). The rice I haven't had because it doesn't add enough nutritionally to be worth it to me, and because I'm afraid of it being painful. The pasta I have avoided because it's a trigger food for me (there are still times when I swear I'd sell my soul for a bowl of mac-and-cheese), and I'd rather wait until I am well and truly settled into maintenance mode before I try it.

I've had crackers on two occasions since surgery--two multigrain ones topped with some really yummy cheese at a wedding about a month ago, and two Triscuits on Christmas Day with some buffalo chicken dip. I also had two small tortilla chips to scoop some queso dip on Christmas Eve. Definitely not something I plan to have on a regular basis.

The only bread I've had has been a couple tiny crusty bites at restaurants, when it was freshly baked and there was a fancy flavored butter. I had a couple small bites of stuffing on Thanksgiving. I occasionally have 1/2 of a low-carb tortilla as the "crust" for a homemade pizza, or cut into triangles and baked into "chips."

It seems like just yesterday that I was all excited that my size 20W jeans were too big...

But today I bought a pair of size 4 skinny jeans!

My surgeon has not given me a goal weight, either. His PA just gave me the average "excess weight lost" percentage range (60-70%) as an idea of what I could expect to lose. That would have put me between 165 and 175, which is still obese for my height (5'2"). Initially, I chose 145 lbs as my personal goal even though I would have still been in the "overweight" category, because it's a weight that I felt OK at in college, and I simply could not wrap my mind around being any smaller than that. But once I really started losing post-op, I revised my goal to 135 lbs, which put me at the top of the "normal" weight range. I'm now at 128.8, just a few pounds heavier than I was in high school! I had to postpone my 6-month follow up until after the holidays, but I'll see what my surgeon has to say then.

@@WL WARRIOR - Where did you find the info about working towards a "set point"? Does Dr. Weiner have a website, or has he put out a book? I'd be interested to learn more!

I got myself back on track yesterday--had a Protein Shake for breakfast; 1 oz. turkey pepperoni, a piece of light string cheese, and a prune for lunch; 1 oz. of cashews for an afternoon snack; 1/2 of a hummus-crusted baked chicken breast and 1/3 cup of Greek green Beans for dinner with a very small piece of high-quality chocolate for dessert; and another Protein shake for my evening snack. And had lots and lots of Water to drink. Weighed myself this morning, and I'd dropped the 4/10 of a pound I'd gained, plus another 2/10.

I do 18th-century living history, both as a hobby and part of my job. I wore a pair of lightly boned stays, laced loosely, about 7 or 8 weeks post-op, but only for a few hours. I wore my fully-boned stays for a weekend about a month later with no issues. They are boned with German plastic artificial whalebone.

Like @@AvaFern mentioned, wearing a corset after being sleeved will reduce your stomach capacity even more. I have found that I can only manage 1/2 a Protein bar when I'm wearing my stays and have to be even more conscious of taking small bites and chewing thoroughly, or I feel rather urpy.

To chime in again and reiterate the point that others have made--we may feel like we went totally crazy and ate a ton at Christmas, but when you look at it from the non-bariatric point of view, it's really insignificant. I came downstairs this morning and whined to my husband about gaining 4/10 of a pound over the past few days, and he looked at me, rolled his eyes, and said, "I gained six." And then I checked to see how many extra calories I'd actually consumed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day... 350. Over two days. That's it.

I feel you. I didn't make the best choices over the past couple of days, and I'm up almost half a pound this morning. I'm having a Protein Shake for Breakfast and may just do a day of shakes to reset myself. The important thing (and I'm saying this to myself, too) is to not think, "well, I blew it... guess I'll just keep eating crap now!"

I have no idea what size bougie my surgeon used on me--I think to some extent it's dependent on your anatomy and your build and how big your stomach was to begin with. I would guess that they used a smaller one on me, a short-waisted 5'2" female, than they would on a guy who's 6'2" and built like a linebacker.

@lauraellen80 Wow!! Thank you for that. I will definitely stop eating them or definitely cut back on how much I do eat of them. I am going to switch over to mostly veggies and leave some of the carbs alone. After a year and a half, I should have them thing down pat by now. Geesh.

I often top my Greek yogurt with a couple tablespoons of a lower-sugar, higher-Protein granola. Bear Naked and KIND are the ones that I've found with the best stats.

Isn't that the craziest thing?! There are days when I swear I am as fat as I ever was, I can just feel it. I tell you, our minds do crazy things to us.

I'm still convinced that all my new size 6 (and in once case, 4!!) pants must just be mislabeled... all of then... even though they are different brands, styles, and from multiple stores.

Same thing happened to me. I hit goal just before my 6-month mark and went "Oh. Okay...?" I thought I'd be going crazy celebrating, but no, not so much.

I like your attitude--"I think it comes down to now that I know what I have accomplished, I think I know what I am capable of. I want more." I am trying to get to a mindset more like that and less, "But I still feel fat... but I'm still bigger than most of my friends... but look at my gross fat stomach..."

I will admit that I awful with tracking food. I hate it, I think there is about 17 in the Protein bar and 20 in the fruit bar. Not sure about the Cheerios Protein Cereal or the trail mix. There were only snack bag sizes so maybe not too much.@@JamieLogical

It does sound like you are getting a lot of carbs and maybe not as much protein as you think you are. In regards to the Cheerios Protein cereal, they are actually being sued for making misleading claims about it's protein content-- see this article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/nancyhuehnergarth/2015/11/13/is-cheerios-protein-a-sugar-bomb-with-just-a-smidge-more-protein/

Tonight I made one of my fave Weight Watchers recipes, Brussels sprouts sautéed with garlic and caramelized onions, with some balsamic vinegar added at the end. Mmmmmmm.

I also like to roast all sorts of veggies in the oven with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and whole cloves of garlic.

I make Greek style green Beans with garlic and tomatoes.

Hmmm... apparently I like garlic.

...walk more than 100 feet without my back hurting. Now I can walk both my 65lb dogs for 1+ miles no problem.

...get up a flight of stairs without getting winded. Now I can jog up the stairs easily.

...cross my legs. Now I can and do all the time, even though I shouldn't!

I've always been one to eat Breakfast every day.

Pre-op, I usually had cold Cereal... relatively healthy kinds (and with skim milk), but waaaaayyyyy too much of it. Or two pieces of toast with an ungodly amount of Peanut Butter and a huge glass of milk. Or I'd stop at McDonalds for a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel combo with a large sugary mocha.

Now, my regular breakfast is 1/2 a packet of lower-sugar oatmeal made with skim Fairlife milk, and 1/2 scoop of vanilla Protein powder stirred in, and a veggie sausage link. Once I get to work, I have a couple cups of coffee with some 2% Fairlife milk and Torani sugar-free Syrup.< /p>

If I'm off and go out to breakfast, I usually get a Denver omelet with cheese and eat 1/3-1/2 of it (and skip the toast and potatoes...well, I might have a tiny bite of potatoes if they look really crispy and delicious).

A few have said that Indian is a good place to go. I love Indian, but not sure what to order. Tandoori chicken would be good. But I'd rather have some saag paneer.

Nothing wrong with saag paneer--just skip the rice and naan. I had paneer tikka masala when I was still in my soft food phase.

The truth is, this is going to be our lives forever and we have to learn moderation everyday but that doesn't mean food prison for life.

That's a good way to put it!

It wasn't the special holiday meals that made me morbidly obese. It was me treating every single meal like it was a holiday meal that did it! It was eating huge bowls of cereal--or multiple donuts--for Breakfast, drinking high-calorie coffees, getting lunch (always with curly fries!) at Arby's, stopping at Wawa (the most amazing convenience store ever) on the way home from work for a "snack" before going home and eating a huge carb-heavy dinner, and treating myself to pints of Ben & Jerry's or Blizzards all the time!

I did very well at Thanksgiving--I had a little bit of everything but made sure I ate my turkey breast first, and though I did eat some leftovers over the next week, I kept it within my daily limits and stayed on track.

@@lauraellen80

Why can't you have a shot of Bailey's in your coffee? Does your surgeon want you to wait to imbibe?

Yeah, my surgeon's plan says no alcohol for 1 year post-op. I have taken a miniscule sip of a fancy hipster cocktail my husband had ordered, and of champagne to toast a friend's wedding, but neither was even enough to coat my tongue, let alone swallow.

I'm 6 months post-op and at goal. My husband's family has requested that I make my baked French toast for Christmas morning Breakfast, to go with the egg & sausage casserole my sister-in-law is making. I'm planning to eat a little bit of the French toast along with the eggs and work it into my meal plan for the day, since it's a favorite of mine that I only have once a year. I'm also planning to take a nice long walk with my dogs in between the festivities to work off the Christmas treats!

The only thing I'm really going to miss this year is that I can't have my traditional shot of Bailey's Irish Cream in my coffee on Christmas morning.