OutsideMatchInside

Yesterday not long after I posted in here, I went for a drive in my newish sports car I purchased this summer. I would have never been able to fit comfortably in that car before surgery. I have been lusting after a luxury sports coupe for years and I finally got one this summer. When I am driving that car, getting in and out I NEVER feel fat. I small and sexy like my car. I LOVE that car and I have so much fun with it. When I am in it, it is a constant reminder of how far I have come. I was thinking about what I posted in this thread while I was driving and I realized mostly in my day to day life I don't really think about my weight or how I feel about my weight. I just enjoy my life. I am having a ton of fun with my new body by focusing on what it can do, and not what it looks or feels like. That is the only thing that got me over my body image issues last year.

I am really sensitive about food texture. I don't chew all the time they advise. I never have. All I did at first was take smaller bites. Now at 2 years I pretty much eat the same way I did before. If you are making yourself miserable and not getting your food in, that isn't helping you.

Get it out ASAP, it is not going to get better only worse.

@Lovergurl Once a person is healed they can easily consume the same amount of food as a person that has not had surgery depending on what they are eating. You can graze (eat all day) and eat a whole large pizza, actually if it is thin crust it won't even take all day. Down a whole bag of family size chips in probably an hour, they slide right through Chicken salad, especially if the meat is shredded and there is enough mayo, you could eat a ton of it, mayo is high in calories. Milkshakes from anywhere are a liquid, so a person a year or 2 out could easily have a large milkshake from like Steak N Shake, that is about 900 calories in one sitting, and if you were eating food with it, you could consume more food because it would push the food right through. Most sleevers can only have 3-5 ounces of dense protein. That is about all a sleeve can handle comfortably. Most foods are not dense protein though, so you can eat a lot more of them. I could probably eat 8 ounces of more of deli meat at once. Something like Chili and sloppy joe are sliders, I could have a a whole skillet of sloppy joe. Once you are fully healed, nothing stops you from over eating but you. Anyone can easily eat around WLS.

Immediately post-op anything cold felt like daggers to me. I never had an issue with the taste of protein shakes. The temp bothered me more than anything.

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I don't think you would be able to eat enough calories to get your strength back and not feel light headed before the 1 year mark. Maybe 9 months. It definitely shouldn't be something you try before you can eat 1200 calories a day at least, every day. Still this is a question best reserved for your Dr.

Broth and unflavored protein powder is the best imo. You can get any broth that you acutally like, and it tastes better and is more cost effective than getting any of these pre-made protein bariatric soups. Syntrax nectars are the consistency of water, and they come in all kinds of flavors. Cappucino, and the tropical cooler were some of my favs post-op. The iced tea flavor kind of sucks, the lemonade is good. You can order sample packs, try them and decide what you like.

I think it is important for people to hear all sides of post-op life. Everyone isn't happy or thrilled with their post-op results or life. I read the good and the bad and decided it was still the best option for me. OP is unhappy, let her be unhappy. She is struggling and having a hard time. She is allowed to voice that opinion. Everyone doesn't have an easy recovery. Mine was smooth and easy but I know that isn't the case for everyone. If someone is dumb enough to let a post on an internet forum really influence their health decisions, they are getting the life they deserve. I really don't get why you guys are trying to silence her. People post they are miserable like every single day. Let them.

I was really afraid of eating the wrong thing and hurting myself or ending up in the hospital. I was very strict with my food for the first 6 months post-op. That was very helpful because by being very strict, and following my post-op instructions, I was able to create very good habits for myself and learn that I do not need food as a crutch through life. Later when I eased up on my food, I was still able to exhibit more self control. Pre-op I made myself drink black coffee for 2 weeks to decide if I really liked coffee or if I just liked the stuff in it. By drinking black coffee for 2 weeks I learned that I do really like coffee just for itself and that I can have it with less cream and less sweetener. That is kind of how I view my life immediately post-op. I learned to live and deal with less, so when I do have more, I am able to control myself easier. Everyone feels bad when they are on liquids and soft foods, not really chewing is really touch. Once you start having denser food, and can eat more, it is easier to tolerate. A year or two from now this will just be a distant memory.

I can eat all the foods I liked pre-op. I don't eat them, I have found low carb alternatives or I eat them every once in a while. By the time you are healed you can eat almost anything and by year 1 or 2 you will probably be able to eat anything. If you don't think people can and do eat any and everything, just read the regain threads or watch youtube videos. How you feel right now is really temporary. Enjoy it, because it is the easiest time to lose and make good habits that will help you later down the road. @Siyaa Ela You are pre-op so you have no idea what post-op life is like or how miserable people can feel immediately post-op. Have surgery then offer your opinion.

I still feel fat because of all the loose skin I have. And I still really love food I'm a foodie and that hasn't really changed. My collarbone however says otherwise. I look a lot thinner and smaller than I feel. When I see pictures of myself and look at myself in the mirror, I am reminded of how small I really am. The longer I stay in this size range, the smaller I feel. This time last year, I still felt and was plus size (I could wear regular and plus at that point). I have been in normal sizes only for almost a year now, so it is becoming more normalized. I feel like by this time next year even with loose skin, I will have completely adapted to my new size. You don't spend 20 years over 300 pounds and suddenly feel thin.

If you don't want to cook, rotisserie chicken and a bag of salad is the easiest no cook healthy meal on the planet.

Sammie's original post is pretty close to what I would have said (I didn't read the rest of the back and forth). A diet is not exactly what OP needs at this point. They need some counseling and coping skills so they are not self soothing with food. It is helpful to learn how to handle your emotions and not self soothe with food prior to surgery but everyone doesn't get there. You can get there post-op but it is easier if you get there pre-op. You can't really conquer an addiction without getting the root cause of the addiction. If you overeat because you grew up in a family with food instability, you have to learn how to make yourself feel comfortable that you don't have to gorge there will always be food available. If you have demons that you are feeding with food instead of drugs or alcohol you have to work on those demons. If you just eat your emotions, you have to work on other ways to handle those emotions. If you reward yourself with food, you have to find other ways to reward yourself. Honestly the same people post the same issues about not being able to lose or being unable to maintain all the time. People give them honest good advice about food and eating but guess what it never works. The reason it doesn't work is because they have not corrected their emotional issues. Trying to out diet your feelings is just like trying to out train your diet. You can't burn enough calories in the gym to overcome a bad diet (you can erase 2 hours of working out in 2 minutes with one bad food choice). You cannot diet your way out of emotional issues. It just doesn't work. Read these forums for a couple years and it is painfully obvious.

I have a Paraguard. I had it for about 3 years prior to surgery. It has not moved at all. I had a period every 2 weeks for over a year after surgery (due to weight loss hormones) so if it was going to move, it would have moved.

I only use Stevia and only one brand, Stevita. All other artificial sweeteners are gross to me. No, it does not make me crave sweets at all.

I don't eat leftovers at all. I feel like leftovers are punishment. Also reheating food is so dicey when it comes to moisture content and being able to eat it. I like freshly prepared foods only. I was a snob about my food before surgery and I am even worse post-op. How popular meal prep has became is just mind boggling to me. Purposely creating leftovers is nuts.

I have been a Prime Member since it existed and I have shopped with Amazon since 1999. I'm done with Whole Foods, nothing will get me to shop there again. I like shopping at Lucky's Market. I completely gave up Trader Joe's and While Foods for Lucky's. The shopping experience is better, the sales are great and the regular prices are fair and affordable.

It is not precise but it is realistic for most people. Most people never get to goal or a normal BMI. Most obese people just get less obese. i exceed what that calc said for me, but if I ate the way most bariatric patients eat. I would have stopped losing weight where they said I would. The stricter you are in the beginning and the longer you stay strict, the better the results.

Bulletproof coffee is just coffee and fat. It extends your fast. You don't break your fast until you have carbs or protein. https://blog.bulletproof.com/bulletproof-fasting/ The whole point of bulletproof coffee is to extend your fast and give you energy. I don't drink bulletproof coffee. Post-op I have so much energy I don't need an energy boost in the morning. I think the calories in the coffee are a waste. I can drink black coffee and water and be perfectly fine until lunch. I used Bulletproof fasting to drop some weight a few years ago. It works but it isn't really necessary for a WLS patient. I have been 16:8 fasting for about 3 years. I work from home and I work late some of the time. 16:8 fasting stops me from eating/snacking at night and staying up too late. If I am hungry at Midnight I just go to bed, instead of cooking something and staying up until 2 or 3 am. Overall it has greatly improved my life. IF for me is just a calorie/behavior control method.

I had food funerals. Looking back it was kind of dumb. Pre-op I thought that my taste buds would be different post-op, they are the same. I also thought that I wouldn't be able to eat a lot of things. I can eat anything. So there was no need for food funerals. However I will say my food funerals helped me get through all the time I was on liquids, 10 days prior to surgery and 2 weeks afterwards. Over 3 weeks without really chewing will drive you nuts. I got through it by thinking about all the stuff I had before surgery and reminding myself of those meals and that helped me get through it. Everyone is different and you have to do what works for you.

What does he cook?

Like others said one slip up is not the end of the world. However, down the road this is something to be mindful of. You can easily graze like this post op. Those few bites while cooking can really add up in calories. Find someone in your family to be your designated taster or just learn to wing it when cooking. Tasting while you cook is a death to food tracking.

If you had a competent Dr they would know that when you are burning fat in your body your Cholesterol spikes temporarily. It is a "complication" of weight loss. Burning fat releases fat into your blood stream. You don't know if you have elevated Cholesterol until you have hit maintenance. Also all this talk about hearts in here. Unfortunately, if you are genetically pre-disposed to having a bad heart, no diet is going to save you. Drugs might prolong your life, but how you eat will be placebo effect at best.

You type the @ sign and then the name of the person and the forum start auto matching the name, then you pick the name I mainly eat veggies in the later afternoon pre dinner by about an hour, and post dinner by about 1.5 hours. Maybe 2 hours after lunch. I don't really have to space it out, they are slider for me. It is just a matter of not eating them with meat.