waterwoman

I see Dr Michelle May at Mindful Eating also supplies links to counselors who specialize in eating disorders.
https://amihungry.com/learn-to-eat-mindfully

Lots of hard work. You did it!!

It's not the end of the world if on occasion you don't get absolutely all of your Protein for a meal or even a day.
It's likewise no terrible sin to leave food on a plate uneaten. It can actually be liberating.
Enjoy your vacations.
Tek

Hi, I am 69 and just celebrated my 5 year surgiversary for RNY. I can’t encourage you enough. It has been the best thing I have ever done for my health and well-being. I look a decade younger than my peers because I am at a healthy weight. The weight loss resolved almost all my health issues (still take Synthroid as that is genetic condition). This site was extremely important in helping me to stay on track. Best of everything to you.

Be willing to heal a little more slowly and give yourself whatever you need to be successful.

Hi, I am 69 and just celebrated my 5 year surgiversary for RNY. I can’t encourage you enough. It has been the best thing I have ever done for my health and well-being. I look a decade younger than my peers because I am at a healthy weight. The weight loss resolved almost all my health issues (still take Synthroid as that is genetic condition). This site was extremely important in helping me to stay on track. Best of everything to you.

Remember being a teenager when feelings were on a roller coaster? It’s a little like that and most important to remind ourselves that “this too shall pass.” I’m 6 years out. I had early complications. In and out of hospital multiple times. Would do it all again in a heartbeat for the years of good health and freedom from fat and shame. Hang in there! It’s worth it.

I’m 5 years out and I still dump and am glad that I do. Dumping is a sign that I made a bad choice. I used to eat ice cream by the gallons. Now I can have a taste, but not too much. Because of dumping I have my sugar addiction under control. I wish we all dumped as it is such an advantage in maintenance.

Remember being a teenager when feelings were on a roller coaster? It’s a little like that and most important to remind ourselves that “this too shall pass.” I’m 6 years out. I had early complications. In and out of hospital multiple times. Would do it all again in a heartbeat for the years of good health and freedom from fat and shame. Hang in there! It’s worth it.

This was my M.O. as well. I didn't do any "one bite for tastes" during weight loss phase on purpose. Even while I was cooking for the fam, I got the Kids or Mr. to taste it for me if the food I was cooking contained stuff that wasn't willing to eat myself (though closer to goal, i did the taste-then-spit-out-method while cooking).
I'm now 3 years post op and have no prob taking a bite or two "for taste" or even just "for eats".
My insignificant opinion is that it will never be easier to lose weight than those first few months post op. Take advantage...treats and yummies aren't going anywhere, you can have some later (plus like others say, you may not even want it anyway).
Of course, if you really, really, really want to have a bite for taste, taste away. You won't be flogged for the act. Its really up to you what you to determine what your priorities are. We are all adults here and can take responsibility for our own actions!
Good Luck! ❤️

This is an outstanding post and will no doubt be helpful for many people (including myself). thank you for becoming one of the wise old timers by sticking around and sharing your experiences.

First I want to say thank you to so many of the veteran posters on here. I hope you gals and guys know how much your experiences and feedback have helped me and I suspect many others. There's just such a fantastic mix of people and experiences - It's great knowing you aren't alone in this journey.

The first few months after surgery were easy. The weight was simply falling off, there wasn't anything I couldn't eat or drink - And better yet, I couldn't overeat because of the restriction. I felt fantastic most of the time, had all sorts of NSV's and loved my new life. From August until January I lost almost 50lbs - I was so close to Wonderland I could taste it. THEN reality struck - Suddenly I was one of those "slow losers" - It took almost 2 months to lose 13lbs. UGH, I WAS going to be one of those slow losers. OK, fine, I'm 52 and it is what it is, right? From January until May, I "only" lost 33lbs. Again, every week/month I told myself that I would lose the weight, I was just in some sort of a stall and things would magically pick up. Well, they didn't, I would lose 2-3 lbs and then I would gain 2-3 lbs. Again, "it's normal" I told myself.

Fast forward to a week ago - I jumped on here for some motivation (reading stories, etc.) and I took a hard look at what I was doing. Basically, I was being lazy - I was eating whatever I wanted and justifying it by saying "I only eat small portions" - Well, yeah, that was true...BUT I was grazing, I was drinking too much alcohol, and I wasn't tracking. I honetly have no idea how many calories I was consuming (especially on weekends with family and friends). I played mind games with myself and said "As long as I'm not gaining, I'm doing things right." - Well, that was a giant load of (@*$.

This past Tuesday (after a weekend of Mimosa's, Crown Royal, and some really great BBQ), I woke up to a 5lb gain (BTW, yes I realize some of that was Water retention). WAKE UP CALL. 5lbs? Seriously - Time to go back to basics before that's a 10lb gain. For the first time in MONTHS, I tracked every thing I tracked everything that went into my mouth (water, food, etc) - I did 3 days of liquid - In two days, those 5lbs were off. Rather than what I've done in the past, I didn't stop there - I continued tracking, I continued being cognizant of what and when I was eating. I said "no" to many things that I thought I wanted. I lost 6.8lbs from Tuesday to Sunday. What? I'm NOT a slow loser - I'm a LAZY loser.

Folks, for many of us, it's EASY in the first few months, it's EASY to convince ourselves that we're doing OK, it's EASY to compare ourselves to others, it's EASY to ignore signs that you're falling into bad habits, and it's EASY to get lazy. In reality, it's HARD to stick to your plan when you're feeling fantastic and patting yourself on the back for losing so much weight. I'm choosing to be thankful that this happened now rather than 2-3 years into it. I'm glad that reality smacked me in the face and forced me to face the fact that i wasn't doing what I needed to do. Right now it was EASY to get back on track before I let it get out of control. For those of you experiencing the same - Buckle up buttercup, start tracking, weigh yourself often if you need to, and take a good look and when and why you're losing weight and when and why you aren't.

Again, a very special thank you to you old timers for always keeping things real and giving out such fantastic advice.

Dtrain84, you look great! I did the same. Retired for a while and then returned part time. Best gig ever. Best of luck to you!

Dtrain84, you look great! I did the same. Retired for a while and then returned part time. Best gig ever. Best of luck to you!

Dtrain84, you look great! I did the same. Retired for a while and then returned part time. Best gig ever. Best of luck to you!

Different people, different ideas.
Take what info you deem useful for YOU and leave the rest.
Personally, i give kudos to you for questioning and researching and educating yourself. Too many people follow heaps of advice given to them because they believe these people surely must know better.
Sometimes they may, sometimes they may not.
For what its worth, i stopped drinking Protein Shakes around the time I reached goal. Since then, I’ve probably reached my Protein goal (60g a day..NOTE: i am on the the small side: 5’2”, 115.9 lbs this morning, and exercise regularly) with just regular food maybe 75% of the time.
Im 3 years out now, have been maintaining my current weight (+/- 5lbs) for over 2 years; every single one of my labs have come back satisfactorily (last one in April, my next one is end of this month); my body fat percentage in April was 19% (so i have zero issues regarding muscle mass) ; and I feel fab.
Do you, boo. You’re doing great.

It seems like you think you will lose the joy of being in control of your body if you have the surgery. For me, RNY was another tool to help me be in control of my eating.

Why not contact surgeon?

Why not contact surgeon?

Will you feel like you did before surgery? No. You won’t feel the same as you did because you’ve had pretty major surgery, changed your digestive system & you’re losing weight so every week you’ll experience new things you couldn’t do before. For a few weeks you’ll experience post surgical issues like rumbling, spasms, changes in your taste buds, nausea, discomfort, etc. but these pass as you heal & recover so you will feel better from that perspective.
You may experience low energy, low blood pressure, foamies, dumping, hormonal fluctuations, etc. Some will pass after a couple of months, others once your weight stabilises. You’ll also discover how your new tummy works & identify how long to wait between eating & drinking, what doesn’t sit well, gives you the foamies, etc. I still gurgle but I usually know why like eating dairy often causes it for me. It’s an individual thing.
During surgery, they pump you full of air & fluids so many people come out of hospital weighing more than they were the day they were admitted. You will lose at your own rate. There is not a single right amount to lose each week. There are average rates but some are naturally slow losers & some are fast losers. Losing 4lbs in your first week is pretty darn good. Remember, it’s not a competition.
You’ve never experienced anything like this before so feeling unlike yourself & anxious about things is not uncommon. It will be ok. Give yourself time to heal & recover & to work out your new eating plan, your tummy’s likes & dislikes, etc.

Remember your system is being flooded with hormones that were stored in fatty tissue. I had same issue immediately after surgery. Increased dosage for a period, than was able to taper back. As always, check with Dr who understands both depression and BariatricPal surgery.

I had RNY and consistently go out with friends and enjoy food. My surgeon really discouraged alcohol, but I still have an occasional drink.

I had RNY and consistently go out with friends and enjoy food. My surgeon really discouraged alcohol, but I still have an occasional drink.

RNY here. No regrets whatsoever. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Should have done it years ago.

Sounds like you are setting yourself up for success this time. It’s a daily battle to maintain a healthy weight and worth the fight.