surlygal

I felt the same way. Honestly, it wasn't until after my surgery that I've realized how much information was taught to me and how useful it's been. I'm on a few fb groups, it's amazing the amount of people who have not been educated and have many questions. Trust me you'll be thankful for your 6 months when it's all over

@@thisfathasgot2go Give yourself a couple weeks. Just stay on track. You should hear from the surgeons office pretty soon. Once your done with your class - which btw bring walking shoes because you've got a 15 min walk to pass. They give your file back to the Dr. who runs the program, they sign off and then it's referred quickly.Could be a couple weeks before the appt BUT it won't be long before you hear from them.

He was my surgeon too! Such a nice man, really glad I ended up with him.

I had my first class May 5th and was sleeved August 3rd - I'm so thankful for the classes.

just had my 2 week checkup today down 23 lbs total in 4 weeks. Post op is 14 lbs. started on soft foods and doing really well just have to be careful to chew chew chew and not eat too fast. thank God my doctor put me on protonix so have had no nausea at all. I still can't tolerate the Protein Shakes that they gave me. too sweet tasting and have a horrible aftertaste I just got a sample of the unflavored Unjury brand that I will try a little bit later today. my burning and stabbing pain in my belly button incision has not gone away so I'm going to have an ultrasound at 815 tonight. here's hoping it's just something strained or possibly just one spot that is healing slower than the rest. they want to double check to make sure its not a hernia. I will be horrified if I have got another surgery again to get a hernia fixed. wish me luck

I am a 21 year old girl who had the surgery 10/22/14. It is the best decision. I have ever made in my life and I would never ever take it back. So far I am 130 pounds down and I feel amazing. Some things I wish I knew? Well, I knew what would happen physically, there would be pain, less eating, weight loss, loose skin. On my clear liquid diet I was very week I could barely make it up the stairs and I passed out from trying, so we started my full liquids a couple of days earlier. That was the only thing physically that I wasn't expecting g was how week I would be from the liquid diet. What I wasn't prepared for was the mental issues. I wear a size 16 now and when I look in the mirror I still feel like I wear a size 30. It breaks my heart. Your self esteem grows but not as fast as you lose the weight and I wasn't expecting to feel like this. It's hard to see yourself as beautiful. I also struggle with losing my food addiction. And not putting it toward something else like shopping, alcohol, sex. It's been so rough mentally. Just know when you lose the weight it is good to have a good support group and you won't yourself immediatly but you will with time

Most people do at your stage. The first month or so pretty much sucks. Each day, week, and month that go by you will start to feel more "normal" again and on top of it you will have lost weight, so the regret goes away Are you on a PPI for your heartburn? I was on major PPI's and had to be on full liquids for 6 weeks after surgery becuase of severe GERD. 9 months later, I'm still on a PPI but don't get heartburn too often anymore. I have more of a regurgitation problem when I eat too much. I really hope they can help you with your heartburn.
And yes, I had major regrets being on liquids for 6 weeks and problems with GERD. I just wanted to EAT SOMETHING!!

Losing a hundred pounds is making all the difference for me. At 100 pounds overweight, I have already had a stroke and my spine was collapsing under the excess weight. I have 17 herniated discs and several neuropathies (including sciatica) because of it.

You have not filled in a profile yet, so I will guess that you are probably in your thirties and have not suffered painful or life-shortening consequences yet. Believe me, it will catch up with you sooner than later.

By the time I lost the first thirty pounds, I was already feeling the difference. I can't imagine now that I could tape eighty pounds of potatoes around my waist and go through my day like I used to. By the time I reach goal and lose the entire 100 pounds, I will have lost the equivalent of wearing a newborn colt for belt.

If you are on the fence and still want to try something else before committing to surgery, go to
http://www.marksdailyapple.com. It is a website that embraces much of what we are doing with our bariatric programs, but without the surgery. Here is what we have in common with Mark's Daily Apple and his program of primal low carb / high Protein eating and exercise that makes sense:

Drink Water until your eyeballs float.

Track your carbs, Protein, fluids, and calories for at least a month. Be honest with yourself, so that you can effectively get a true picture of what you are consuming. Count everything, including the sample from the deli or bakery at the supermarket to licking the spoon after cooking something.

Try to find a nutritional balance between 80-100 ounces of non-caloric fluids, 60-100 grams of quality protein (baked chicken breast is better than Slim Jim's Jerky sticks). Many of us in our pre-op nutritionist - supervised three to six month diet have a limit of around 1200 calories. It is do-able if you eat your protein first, and then non-starchy veggies, and limited fruit (I was allowed one serving a day).
Dessert is an apple, not Grandma's apple pie with two scoops of Bryer's ice cream.
Keep in mind that starches and sugars make you hungry for more starches and sugars, and you will never fill up. It's like when I could eat a whole big bag of potato chips by myself, but when it comes to boiled eggs, I can eat two and I'm done.

Do not eat anything made in a factory. That is where a lot of the damaging sugar, starches, oils, and salts come from that derail our best efforts. Shop the perimeter of the market where the produce, meat, and dairy is.
Don't become part of the sofa. One thing that Mark encourages is finding exercise that is fun and does not feel like exercise. I was surprised to find that I like boxing. Go figure! Nobody better try to kidnap me. I'll punch them in the throat and be glad to do it.
When I am doing housework, I turn the TV to the Classic Rock Work-out station and crank up the volume. When I do that, I have a lot more pep in my step and burn a lot of extra calories.
Whatever you decide to do, losing weight permanently will take committment on your part. Trying to keep with our pre-op regimine will give you an idea of how badly you want to succeed. I wish you good luck and good health.