Sajijoma

Don't be too hard on yourself. Some of us didn't even have a liver shrink diet to begin with! That's right! No liver shrink diet at all and I was HUGE and I did just fine. Just so your best to get right back on the horse and do the best you can with the instructions your surgeon gave you. People screw up, we are human. It's what you do next that determines if you are going to be successful or fail.

My favorite thing was my body pillow. It's the only thing that made that hard miserable bed comfortable enough to sleep in.

How rude of her to ask! It's none of her business! [emoji35]I'd just say it's something of a personal nature-which it is- and don't say anything above that. It really is no ones business.

Refried beans, sugar free yogurt, cottage cheese, mashed potatoes with unflavored protein powder mixed in...I was allowed to have Mac n cheese if it was over cooked and thoroughly mashed first, but I never did it or the potatoes because of the carbs, ricotta bake, lasagna smashed with a fork-although again the carbs are too much IMO, cook an over easy egg using Pam cooking spray and then smash with a fork til it makes egg slop. I ate A LOT of eggs during puréed stage...

I chose rny and I had a really easy and wonderful time with it. I had my 6 month labs done and all was well, no issues with mal absorption. I have great restriction, I was a complete sugar addict pre surgery and having the rny has curbed that because I absolutely do not want dumping syndrome and although I've only come close to dumping twice, that was enough to make me make sure I read my labels and followed my plan to the letter. For me, at my starting weight and knowing my triggers, this was the way to go for me. If rny scares you, even after talking to the surgeon, in the end it's your decision to make. You have to live with the results either way, so choose what makes you feel like you can be most successful and happy with your end results.

Don't walk in saying "you screwed up" and list a laundry list of why you know it is so. Make an appt, go into his office and tell him you are concerned and then tell him your reasons why, but just don't be accusatory. It's possible that it was done correct and your anatomy and physiology along with your eating habits have made it otherwise. Part of this is going to be on you though for not measuring out and limiting your portions to begin with despite the lack of restriction, but there may be something else going on and a simple Bariatric swallow test should show if there is an abnormality in the size of your pouch. If it comes back that all is well with your sleeve, you really should follow up with your NUT and psych to make a plan to get back on track, because I have a feeling there is more to the eating a 20oz steak than just in a delightful conversation. Even with a full size stomach I couldn't eat a 20oz steak although it never stopped me from trying. You could be just pushing the food out the bottom into your intestines or something.

Maybe try a drink with some protein in it that isn't a heavy calorie shake. Like the Bariatric pal store sells proti-15. I get the grape flavor and it's like a syrup in the packet that mixes with water and tastes like Welch's grape juice. It gives me a little extra protein when I need it and it's like 75 calories or something so it's not a complete derail. I sip it between meals.

I took both and it wasn't til the day I went home that I could even get up to get changed into them because of an oxygen issue. They were great for the ride home though.

My advice would be to talk to your NUT and if you no longer have one, maybe look into finding a new one who is experienced and can guide you through getting back on track. You didn't lose your sleeve. It's still there and is capable of doing everything it did the first time around, but you've got to get your head around the emotional side of this and the physical pain side. It's easy to fall off the wagon when you can't exercise and are stuck in a painful way. It's like falling down stairs, you just keep falling til you hit the bottom unless you can stop yourself. Your NUT and maybe a psych will both be able to get you back on track.

First of all, don't stress. Stress raises your cortisol level which then makes more weight pile on. Stay calm. Most programs have a no net gain policy so if you gain 3lbs you gotta lose those 3 lbs to qualify. They just want to see that you can lose weight and maintain it. I too had trouble losing weight pre op. I would lose 10-15lbs and then like them back on without changing a thing. It was frustrating! I kept upping my exercise and water to make it through mine each time I'd gain 1lb, I'd add 5 more minutes of walking or 15 more sit-ups or whatever just to get through. In the end, I did lose quite a bit of weight before the actual surgery, but it was a fight to keep it off. Now that I'm on the other side, I haven't had those problems anymore and my weightloss has been just amazing! My recommendation is to try to do a low carb high protein diet with lots and lots and I can't say it enough lots of water! It will prepare you for life after surgery and help with the weight gain.

The best piece of advice I received post op was from a surgery vet at a support meeting. He said you either have to be all the way in, or your not in it at all. You can't just do some of it. You can't just exercise on the good days or give yourself permission to eat crap because you just miss it. You have to be all in every day and stick to your plan and basically think of it as a new job and if you don't do your job, your body will get fired from the weightloss job. There's no second chance to get it right if you mess up your tool by abusing it or not using it to it's full potential so don't blow it.

I have all 3 sizes. In the beginning I used the 16oz and although it was great immediately post op when I couldn't hold a whole shake so I didn't make one, now that I am 7 months out, I really prefer the 20oz. Because my average syntrax shake is about 14 oz of liquid and then I have room for ice without spillage. The 28oz has more room, but a lot of wasted space so it's just more cup to clean for no reason. LOL

Society loves to kick people around. It's no longer politically correct to make fun of blind or mentally handicapped people or drug addicts or alcoholics, but no one is championing or calling foul for fat people being made fun of. Fat people are the last acceptable(according to our society anyway) people to bully, mock, shame, abuse, and ridicule despite the fact most of us did not choose to be obese any more than someone chooses to have any crippling or debilitating disease. It doesn't help than many in the medical community are still trying to perpetuate the idea that we all are just lazy and eat too much and if we just went on a diet would lose the weight, but don't because we are lazy and lack willpower. Until those misconceptions are finally taken out of the medical community and the fact that obesity is a life long disease we must battle and surgery can help us battle, then I don't see this ever going away. It's just too fun for people to kick the fat guy afterall "he did it to himself" unlike the alcoholic or the drug addict who had no choice in the matter at all! [emoji849]

I don't think you are being a brat. Right after my surgery, my husband went on an epic eating crap binge and put on almost 80lbs eating all the things he used to moan and groan about me buying. My first few months after surgery were sheer hell watching him eat a train wreck of cookies, candy, ice cream, doughnuts, ice cream and fried foods galore chased with soda all the time. It was hard to watch and I would tell him "that's how I got here in the first place" but he wouldn't listen. Fast forward 6 months and he just had his checkup and he's not doing well. Everything is elevated and his doctor wants him to lose the 80lbs ASAP plus the baggage he had before and adopt basically my eating style-low carb, protein and not too much fat(except good fats). I just want him to be healthy, but now that we are in a colon cancer scare waiting to find out if it is or isn't, he's finally decided if he makes it through unscathed that he will turn it around and start caring again. We have healthy food in the house now always, we own a ton of exercise equipment(thanks tax return!) and videos and even have a room that is semi dedicated for exercise (it's also the storage room in our basement) but it's cool in the summer and private so you don't have to feel like you are being watched by all the eyes in the house and as long as someone is watching the little ones, I actually get time to myself now. I spend 2hrs a day down there working on me, but during the hours he's home, it's always free(unless my teenager is in there but usually she does her workouts during the daytime). Anyway, I kind of got distracted a bit, but my point is, you can try to lead by example, but you can't make him do it anymore than he could have made you lose weight or exercise. You have to want it for yourself. Just keep pressing the "how good I feel now that I exercise and eat better" and hopefully he'll come around on his own without having to have a crisis to scare him into it like mine.

I'm aiming for a size 10. I'm sure I could get lower, but I'm afraid I would look gaunt and scary since I have broad shoulders and bigger frame.

For me, I lost 2 months stalled out because I wasn't eating enough. As soon as I bumped up my calories, protein, and carbs(my NIT had taken them all away when I stalled out in the beginning) then the weight started melting right off again. Being near the end of your journey, I'm sure it gets harder to lose so that might be playing a role in it too...

The only requirements I had was my 90 day program with my NUT, the psych eval, and then pre op, I had a brief like less than 5 min EKG and bloodwork done. No sleep study, no EGD, no X-ray, or a pre op liquid diet or anything. It was really a lot easier than I expected.

the pic on the right is me at 429lbs getting ready to go to see the surgeon for the first time. The pic on the left is me last week at 275lbs trying on a LARGE shirt and finding out it actually fit! I hope the next 6 months are as productive! [emoji4]

I like the chocolate, the caramel, and the strawberry is ok in small doses. I have a sample of the coconut, but haven't tried it yet. I'm not a big fan of coconut really.

My insurance said a sleep study wasn't needed and my surgeon didn't fight it. He just screened me based on my snoring and waking up choking and made sure they watched me carefully as I was waking up so I didn't choke. They actually left my breathing tube in until I woke up completely because of the risk that I did have it.

Everyone in my family is super morbidly obese. My parents, my 4 living brothers, my aunts and uncles, and my cousins. There really isn't anyone who isn't at least "obese". None of them support the idea of wls and get enraged when doctors suggest they consider it before their long list of comorbidities does them in, but they would rather die than commit to a lifestyle that doesn't involve drinking soda and eating whatever they want when they want it. For that reason I didn't bother telling them about my choice, but now that family members are seeing pics of me, they are getting upset and making comments that I must be severely ill or anorexic because I've lost so much weight. You would think they would be happy and supportive-but that's never been how my family works and why I keep my distance now.

At 6 months out, I've gone from a 50 G to a 44 D. The cups are just filled with empty skin though. Without a bra on, they are completely flat, long, and so so sad compares to their former beautiful selves. It's On my list of things to fix after I reach my goal though. Right behind my belly, thighs, and arms.

I can't even imagine more energy than I have right now! I feel like I'm going to explode if I sit down now!

I've gone from a size 32/34 down to a size 20/22 on bottom and size 18/20 on top!

Thank you everyone! I'm a work in progress, but if I can hit 220lbs by my 1yr mark, I'll be considering myself successful even though I'm not giving up til I've reached my goal weight. I'm already the lightest I've been since 1999 so it's exciting! I cannot wait to see what the next 6 months brings!