catwoman7

stretching out your stomach is pretty rare - you'd have to REALLY overstuff it day after day to do that. Liquids for sure wouldn't do it - they pretty much go right through you.

it depends on the person. The dietitians in my program are really into intuitive eating and they hate the fact I count calories, but honestly, it's worked for me all these years, so I'm not about to give it up. I think intuitive eating works well for some people, but not everyone.

depends on the program. Many are low carb, but not all. Mine wasn't. They wanted us to eat balanced diets.

some people who are a ways out do Keto, but this early out, you have to make sure you're meeting your protein requirements and you can only handle so much food, so it might be challenging to do a strict Keto diet.

we were originally told we'd have to crush pills for awhile, but they only crushed them for me when I was in the hospital. The PA at my clinic said as long as the pills were no bigger than a pencil eraser, I could swallow them whole. Bigger ones might take two or three weeks, he said. Almost all of mine were small, so I never crushed those. And one of the big ones was calcium (those giant horse pills), so I just got a chewable.

when you count total carbs, you also include the ones are fiber. Net carbs are the total carbs minus the fibrous kind (because your body doesn't digest fiber...it just passes through). for example, if ate a bowl of bran cereal that has 34 carbs, 18 of which are fiber, then your total carbs would be 34, and your net carbs would be 16 (which is 34-18). some people count total carbs. Others just count net carbs because the fiber kind aren't really digested.

they vary a lot and some people don't even have to do one at all. So just do what your new surgeon requires.

I'm pretty sure I was four or five months out. Even at seven YEARS out, raw vegetables occasionally irritate my stomach. I think they would have really been tough to eat at just a month or two out, since you're still healing at that point.

the further out I got, the more frequent the stalls were, and the longer they'd last. Every time I'd be three or four weeks into one I'd think "well, this is it...", and then I'd suddenly start losing again. It finally quit at 20 months out. So in short, this may or may not be the end of it...

my immediate family knew, as well as my husband (of course) and a few close friends. Otherwise, I wasn't very open about it. I'm still not super open about it, but i do tell more people about it than I used to - although at seven years out, I really don't have to. Everyone has either already seen me since I lost all that weight, or they never knew me when I was obese.

I was just supposed to eat healthy (which honestly, I already did) and keep my calorie intake at around 2300 (which clearly, at well over 300 lbs, I didn't). The dietitian didn't restrict any specific kind of food, but on the other hand, eating more than the occasional sweet treat wouldn't really be healthy eating. I lost about 40 lbs during the six-month pre-op diet (required by my insurance company) and another 17 lbs during the two-week liquid diet (required by my surgeon).

starchy vegetables: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, lima beans, corn - those are all starchy

I agree. Check with your clinic, since not all programs limit carbs.

yea didn't think of that - it could be something in the shakes, too. Like maybe the artificial sweetener they use?

it keeps getting better every day, though...

yes - it'll go away. I never really had pain to speak of, just discomfort - but after two or three weeks it was pretty much gone, as I recall..

that - or constipation. OP = has it been awhile since you've "gone"? If so, try taking stool softeners or Miralax to help move things along...

a lot of people have weird mood swings due to rapidly changing hormone levels after surgery. I suspect that's what's going on, but if you're feeling suicidal, you need to call a suicide hotline. Please get in touch with someone NOW! https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ P.S. the hormone changes are temporary, but if you're feeling this way, you need to talk to someone immediately.

I have a food scale which I used A LOT the first year or two. I don't use it that much anymore, though - maybe once a month or so. I bought some 8 oz ramekins because that way I didn't have to measure some things. If it fit in the ramekin, it was a cup (or if it fit in half the ramekin, it was 1/2 a cup - although you can also buy 4 oz ramekins) I also bought some baby spoons - and I still use them for eating some things (like yogurt) at seven years out -- but now it's mostly because I love them! I never bought special cups or glasses - I Just used the ones I already had.

several people have been revised to bypass (from sleeve) - hopefully someone will chime in...

I agree with the others. If you're following your plan, you'll lose. There are reasons why you could be seeing a slight gain - most likely, you could be retaining water (what your sodium intake been the last couple of days?) or you could have have fuller-than-usual intestines. If it's one of those, it should be gone in a day or two. Just stick to your plan - as long as your overall trend is down, you're good!

same here. It was "taken care of" when I got my lower body lift.

thanks! I'm totally addicted to wordle - and quordle. Some of the other ones you have on here look really fun, too!

wouldn't be dumping. "Normal" dumping happens pretty soon after you eat. What they call "late dumping" (also called reactive hypoglycemia) happens 1-2 hours after you eat, and can last a couple of hours. Sounds like you ate something that didn't agree with you - or else you've got a bug.

oh no - sorry about that!! I can certainly eat more now than I did the first year, but there's a point at which my stomach starts screaming... (btw - I meant to respond to another comment on restriction - the first one that was posted, I think - but this thing doesn't let you delete comments. But that's OK - yours was definitely related, at least!)