Bubbletoes

Yesterday marked my one month post op and I'm FINALLY starting to get my energy back! Not only that, but eating more food is really helping! I'm still losing weight and being very conscious of what I eat! I am down 35lbs and I don't know if that is too much or too little all I know is I'm happy with my decision FINALLY!

Being cool and fitting in with you friends in college by drinking is only going to last for so long, until the end of the year when you graduate. Having bariatric surgery to help you lose weight and be healthy will last forever. I'm 24 and I kind of find it crazy that someone would rather drink in excess than follow the precautions that set you up to succeed with weight loss. If all you are proud of in college is how much you can drink you've got a wake up call coming when the real world starts.

OK, I'll bite. I'm really concerned by your use of "NOT" and "refuse" in reference to a practice that at best can be expensive and at worst after surgery can lead to severe dehydration, chemical imbalances in an already compromised body and consumption of absolutely useless calories that would be better spent on Protein. Are you seriously saying that partying in the way you did your first three years of school is more important than the REST.OF.YOUR.LIFE?
I know it will be easy for you to dismiss my comments as those of someone out of touch because our ages are very different....but I can tell you we ALL have to make changes in our lifestyles for surgery to truly be the tool that helps us get healthy. Drinking Water flavored with all the cool fruit they have in a bar seems like a relatively small price to pay compared to what you can gain by getting healthy.
Sorry if I've offended you....but the point of the forum is to share the truth, even when it is not what we want to hear. Good luck!

I only had one "food funeral" and that was about six weeks before my sleeve. I then followed a four week liquid diet and then a one week clear liquid diet. Anyway, I said goodbye to sushi. My husband ate lots more than I did because he knew we wouldn't be hanging out in sushi bars again for a very long time. ????

Here, read this. This explains why it happens:
http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.php

This is one reason most veterans don't stay around. And you get lambasted, called a bully and worse if you attempt to tell people the truth.
I went through a time when I could barely stand it, but I cope iwth it now by not reading most of those types of posts. It took me awhile to figure this out, but it is better to let those stil in the honeymoon period respond to all that. Their reality and truth is that they pretty much can do all that stuff and still lose weight. come year 2, 3 etc that is when they will start looking for solutions to a different set of problems (regain for example) and that is when my voice might actually make a difference.

Maybe it is just me but I know I am working very hard at following my plan to the letter. I have been overweight my whole life and this is my final attempt to become healthy. Skinny would be nice but healthy is my ultimate goal.
I love this forum as most people are very nice. They share their struggles and successes and it gives me hope. I see that I am going through things that those before me have. I see that if I do what I am supposed to do I will be successful.
It totally chaps me when I see the following:
"I am so hungry that I decided to eat what I want instead of staying on my Protein Shakes because I just can't do it one more day"
"I need to lose weight to qualify for surgery but I can only seem to lose a pound, I swear I am eating 600 calories and walking miles a day"
Some one asks what to do and someone else says "Sure go ahead and eat that or do that" knowing its complete sabotage.
Someone is here trying to justify eating burgers and cakes and ice cream
IDK why it bothers me so but it really does. I have to walk away some times and not look at it. I want to scream lol
Does anyone else feel this way?

I was sleeved on May 20th and other than my 9 day stall, I've done well having lost 37 lbs as of this morning. I know this sounds terrible, but I've lost so much in my face that I'm beginning to look like a Shar Pei! I'm thrilled with my weight loss, but the wrinkles not so much! Previously all the fat on my face really filled in those grooves. It's the new me! ????

I went back to work after three weeks off and I wish I took a fourth week. (I went back this week). I have a stressful job, but not a physical job. I probably would want a fifth week off if I took four off. ????. Do what you can and rest when you can. So far it's working for me. Luckily my children are grown and gone, and my husband is semi-helpful so my evenings aren't too tiring. I don't think I would do well with toddlers to care for. Best wishes to those who do!

I'm also not normal LOL. HBP runs in the family and there is according to my doctor a strong genetic component.
I was on a combo pill of 3 different meds. Doc reduced it to a pill that is 2 meds in one. So a decrease of med for sure. He tells me I will likely always need BP meds... as he put it "even skinny people can have HBP".
I did however come off all diabetes meds completely after surgery. At one point I was taking three different pills and 55 units of insulin. Just got my 6 month post op blood work back this week and my a1c is 5.3! ☺️

I was a BAD diabetic.....I took over 300 units a day of combined R & N insulin. I used 10 bottles a month.....now I am down to using 3. 2 bottles of N and 1 of R. When I was on the liquid diet.....I was insulin FREE!!! Once I incorporated food back into my diet, I was back on the insulin. I am trying to ween myself off the R all together. Eating the right amounts of Protein and carbs is a science and what works for me ......may not work for you. I think that once I reach my goal weight, I will still be on insulin.......hopefully 1 bottle will last me a month. GOOD LUCK on your journey!!!!

I stay on the straight and narrow because I know if I stray, I am giving myself permission to do it again and again. That's how I got in this fix many times over! If you are having a craving, try to suppress it for a period of time. Revisit that thought hours later or the next day and more often or not, the craving will have passed. If you are strong enough to go through surgery, you must be strong enough to wave off what you know is not a good choice! Be strong for yourself! ????

@@Babbs -- You're not a bore!! You've gained wisdom on your journey.
One phrase I've heard in a variety of places over the years is "Eat to Live. Don't Live to Eat." (Or some variation on that theme.) food is fuel for our bodies. I'm working on not thinking of food as a "reward" or a "treat," but a necessity for a healthy body and strive to make wise choices within the parameters given my by surgeon and NUT. It does take work, a lot of work.

As I'm getting closer to goal, I just can't bring myself to splurge right now. I just don't feel like spending another week working off the half a pound or pound I may gain from it. I want to keep moving forward, not backwards.
I figure once I get to goal, and am allowed a few more calories to maintain, then I can experiment with little splurges here and there. But they will still be tracked and accounted for in my daily calories.
Jeez, what a bore I've become. Lol.

OMG!! Your mother-in-law sounds like mine. You poor thing!

I stay on the straight and narrow because I know if I stray, I am giving myself permission to do it again and again. That's how I got in this fix many times over! If you are having a craving, try to suppress it for a period of time. Revisit that thought hours later or the next day and more often or not, the craving will have passed. If you are strong enough to go through surgery, you must be strong enough to wave off what you know is not a good choice! Be strong for yourself! ????

Thanks everyone.
I'm down 70lbs as of today, so still really happy with how it's going - I'm going on holiday in six weeks, with lots of walking involved, and I am really excited about it - and hoping I can get down below 210lbs before I go (currently 222 lbs).

I stay on the straight and narrow because I know if I stray, I am giving myself permission to do it again and again. That's how I got in this fix many times over! If you are having a craving, try to suppress it for a period of time. Revisit that thought hours later or the next day and more often or not, the craving will have passed. If you are strong enough to go through surgery, you must be strong enough to wave off what you know is not a good choice! Be strong for yourself! ????

So I was three months out on 1st June - and I feel really really good.
I have a thread somewhere here going through my experience, and the first few posts were pretty hard going because I found the first two weeks really hard. The whole experience with the liquid and puree and mushy diet was awful to be honest.
But right now I feel great. I've lost 65lbs in those three months (down from 292lbs to 227lbs) - I look good in a suit, all my old shirts fit again, I can tie my airplane seatbelt without a problem, I can walk home from the train station after work without being exhausted when I get in the door. I go to the gym a few times a week. I've lost ten inches around my tummy, three inches around my neck.
And most importantly, I eat what I want to. Nothing has been difficult for me to keep down. I know some on here stick rigidly to a specific programme. My surgeon didn't tell me to do that and so I'm not doing that - I mostly watch my calorie intake, and try to keep it below about 1200. I do probably have more carbs than most on here say I should, but it's working for me and I'm not going to stop. I also said at the outset, I wanted this surgery so I could have a normal life, not so that I would end up on a specific diet for the rest of my life.
What I found bizarre is that my restriction doesn't seem to work with chocolate, popcorn or crisps (dangerous territory, I know) - but I find myself being more disciplined about those foods even though my tummy is fine with them. Before surgery, when I left work, I would pop into a shop and buy sweets and crisps for the commute home. Now, even if I am hungry when I leave work, something tells me not to do that, and I wait for dinner instead. I don't know if it's the surgery, or if it's just because I can see results, I am more aware of not putting those results in danger. But either way - I like knowing that even when the restriction doesn't work, I am still more disciplined than I was (but because I eat all the foods I like, I never feel deprived).
My message to anyone struggling in the early stages is that this will all be fine - when I was a week after surgery, I looked at those people saying 'its the best thing I ever did' and thought they were all lunatics, or else that something was going wrong with me. But no - it is tough at the start (really, really tough) but it will get better and you will be glad you did this.

Oh yeah. I told my daughter who fully supports me through this and I told my boss and my work team mates who are all very slim and lovely. They have all been very supportive and kept in touch to check on me during my time off from work. I also told my 2 best friends I've known for 48 years and they have been great! I'm a very lucky person! I don't care who else in the world knows or wants to know. I'm not telling anyone else. ????

I have tried a couple things and have discovered that things i used to crave do not sit well with me- the foods don't taste the same or generate the same feeling I got from them and I'm very grateful.
Among the things I have tried bites of was a pretzel (very gluey), Sausage- I didn't want to get full fat sausage so I tried turkey sausage and it was too fatty- I did find one that is much more reasonable and works for me as an occasional treat and it is a source of Protein just not something I want to incorporate daily, nuts- I like the crunch but they don't sit well, etc.
So basically I am realizing I want crunch and I can do that other ways.
Also for the cheeseburger- is there any reason you couldn't make yourself a little cheese slider without a bun? or maybe wrap it in lettuce? I used to replace cheeseburgers with the 'whopper salad' I browned some turkey or beef with diced onion and served it over chopped lettuce and tomatoes, a little grated cheese on top and the 'dressing' was a mix of lowfat mayo and ketchup to simulate the burger king whopper. In the winter I served it over steamed zucchini 'pasta' that I made with my Spirooli.
What I am trying to do now is if I have a craving I google that thing along with the term low carb and there are some great healthy tasty ideas out there

I stay on the straight and narrow because I know if I stray, I am giving myself permission to do it again and again. That's how I got in this fix many times over! If you are having a craving, try to suppress it for a period of time. Revisit that thought hours later or the next day and more often or not, the craving will have passed. If you are strong enough to go through surgery, you must be strong enough to wave off what you know is not a good choice! Be strong for yourself! ????

I stay on the straight and narrow because I know if I stray, I am giving myself permission to do it again and again. That's how I got in this fix many times over! If you are having a craving, try to suppress it for a period of time. Revisit that thought hours later or the next day and more often or not, the craving will have passed. If you are strong enough to go through surgery, you must be strong enough to wave off what you know is not a good choice! Be strong for yourself! ????

The only way your body can get rid of alcohol is through your liver. Dancing and peeing will not help your body metabolise alcohol. Only time. You were a massive danger to yourself and other road users.

Wait WHAT!?!?!
You had five drinks and drove an hour later? :faint: