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Seriously. I think about this on a regular basis. In fact, when I get down on myself because of my weight, remembering this makes me feel better. I'd sure as hell rather be obese than stupid. And pretty soon, I won't have to choose!

@@stacyg1 As a person outside the situation, I can definitely tell you that hearing about her comments told me a lot more about her than it did about you. Sometimes in situations like that it helps me to take a step back and think what does this person's comments really say about each of us? In this case, it says very little about you. Only that a person thinks you might have gained a tiny bit of weight. Could be due to any number of reasons or just a figment of her imagination. However, what it says about her is that she was rude, catty and/or thoughtless with her words and that she is keeping tabs of others' figures and comparing herself to them fills some deficiency in her self-esteem. I could say more, but you get the idea. Don't worry for a minute about her. Keeping working with your doctors and doing what's right for you!

Could you say a little more about this metabolic honeymoon? I've not heard of it and I tried googling but couldn't find much. Also, congrats on a successful first year! Hope I'm joining you this time next year.

Thank you guys for all the info! Glad I checked here before I made the investment.

Hi everyone! My RNY is in about three weeks, so I'm working on getting everything in order for my post-op diet. I've come across something called "Protein shots." They're basically 3-4 oz drinks with about 20-45 grams of protein each. They're made by various companies and come in a variety of flavors. Most are very low in fat and sugar. Here's an example of one i'm looking at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003FKJLPM/ref=pd_luc_rh_sim_01_01_t_img_lh?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Has anyone had experience with these? I'm thinking they could be a miracle for the liquid phase when it's a struggle to drink enough protein through shakes that might be gritty or not taste so good.

@@LadyReyven (and everyone else following along), I so hear you. I'm excited, but getting nervous too. It's the realization that it's really happening as the date gets closer. I've had a few fleeting "if you're going to turn back, now is the time" thoughts, but I know I don't actually want to do that.

I'm scheduled for Sept. 21! Feel free to add me as a friend!

Hi everyone! This thread is getting so long, it's hard to keep up with! My RNY is scheduled for Sept. 21. Please feel free to add me as a friend! I figure the more support we can give one another, the better!

I'm scheduled for Sept. 21! Definitely feel free to add me as a friend!

@@Kelsey Marie Congratulations! That's great news!! @@Doubletruble#2 I hope it goes smoothly for you! I have Aetna insurance as well and the insurance coordinator at my clinic said they're one of the better ones they work with. The coordinator submitted my paperwork on a Tuesday and the approval came through two days later on Thursday. He said it was a record for them.

Congratulations on your new relationship! It seems pretty common for people to gain a little weight in new relationships for the reasons you've mentioned. The good news is he understands and is very supportive of your post-WLS lifestyle. Sounds like you're getting back on track. I'm still pre-surgery and making some of these changes with my own boyfriend. Cooking dinner and eating in instead of going out, walking together, stuff like that. Good luck to you and I wish you two tons of happiness!

Have any of you found any of the fancy scales out there particularly helpful? Those that measure muscle mass, body fat %, etc? Do these even work? My instinct is to ignore them and go with the cheapest available, unless any of these have been particularly helpful to any of you? Thanks!

Sounds cool! I'm going to check it out.

I actually had a different kind of final straw. I first heard of WLS about 15 years ago when I was in high school. I lived in a small town and a group performing the surgeries about 45 minutes away was having terrible outcomes. Years later when I gained enough weight to potentially qualify, I didn't even want to consider it because I thought it was unsafe. I also thought I could do it on my own. Fast forward to February of this year. I'd had some success losing weight over the years, even getting out of qualifying range for the surgery, but I inevitably gained it back. I'd tried everything. I was about nine months into my new job in marketing at an academic medical center. We needed to promote our bariatric surgery center, so someone asked me to write an article about a successful patient. (I remember thinking, is this some kind of joke? Assign this story to the way overweight lady?) I quickly learned how safe the surgery is and about our clinic's excellent outcomes. I even interviewed my surgeon (by phone so he wouldn't be biased by knowing he was talking to someone potentially eligible for surgery) for the article. I asked him all the "tough" questions swirling in my brain. How safe is it really? How come patients can lose weight after surgery, but not with regular diet and exercise? Why did you choose to work with this patient population? He was very knowledgeable and sincere. I was especially struck by a statement he made that people who qualify for surgery and don't have it have a 2 percent chance of losing the weight and keeping it off. Patients who qualify and do have surgery have a 50 to 60 percent chance of losing it and keeping it off. After so many failed attempts to lose weight and turn things around over the past eight years, I decided I can handle those odds! I'd learned so much about myself and my relationship with food during those attempts. With this added tool, I know I'll be ready to beat this once and for all!

This is a fun thread! I have tickets to see one of my fave football teams play Sept. 12. The team's home base is several states away, but they're actually playing an away game in my town. (This happens every other year and I just moved back here a little over a year ago). To make sure I can accrue enough time off, my surgery will be the week of Sept. 14 or possibly the week after. I set the date with my surgeon on Aug. 25.

Hi everyone! I'm totally late to the party, but I'm Megan, 32, from Virginia. I'm setting my surgery date when I meet with my surgeon Aug. 25. I've spoken with clinic staff a few times and it looks like my date will be sometime in the weeks of Sept. 14 and Sept. 21. I am SO READY to just do it already! Or at least know the date! I've been working on this since February and have had a few setbacks in the process (took a month to get into my PCP who had to refer me, now five weeks for my next clinic date because they're so busy, etc.) On the plus side, fall will be right around the corner when I have my surgery and the weather will be beautiful for walking post-op and building back into exercising at the gym. Right now, I'm just trying not to get too nervous! There's so much to know and I'm afraid I'm either going to miss something entirely or forget something important. A veteran on the forum recently told me to think of it like having a baby. You learn as you go. Trying to keep that in mind. Good luck everyone! It's really cool to connect and hear how others are doing!

I'm having mine done by Peter Hallowell at UVA.

I feel like I can say this about SO MANY topics. That is definitely where my cynical edge comes from.

@@Soon2beslimSamantha I'm not sure it's a conspiracy to control population, but I have no doubt the stigma against the poor and overweight people go hand-in-hand. I think the fact that there's a correlation between poverty and obesity allows people to keep up the idea that weight is a moral issue and slows the impetus to find real solutions instead of simply ridiculing the overweight.

I wonder if some of these comments you guys are hearing about looking sick are pure jealousy? Thinner women seem to battle weight almost as much as I do in their own minds. Almost every time someone brings Cookies or something into my work, one of the women demands to know who is responsible and exclaims, "you are the DEVIL!" Personally I think they're psychos and avoid this chatter as much as possible. When you're really overweight and start losing weight, it seems some catty women will cheer you on at first, but then feel threatened when you start to approach their weight/BMI or even surpass them. In college I took up kickboxing my junior year and started shredding weight. After months of success, a friend cornered me and tried to stage an intervention, insisting I must have an eating disorder that I most certainly did not have. Also agree that many people no longer remember what a healthy BMI looks like. I've actually heard this phenomena is prevalent in pediatrics. People honestly can't tell their pre-school and elementary school-age children are overweight.

@@WL WARRIOR The link between poverty and obesity has been pretty clear to me since the time I began grocery shopping for myself. Ramen, mac and cheese, and other packaged foods are SO much cheaper than fresh, whole foods. I struggled financially in my first job and sometimes went into the grocery store with $15 or $20 to buy food for the week. I left with those less expensive options myself. It makes sense to me that food pantries receive a lot of processed food in donations. They're cheaper and have a longer shelf life. When I donate, I try to go for the lesser of evils and pick out canned veggies, healthy soups or non-sugary cereals like plain Cheerios.

@@limichelle34 Wow! That sounds totally INSANE! My bariatric clinic required a referral from your PCP before you were invited for a seminar. Maybe that helped them weed through the crazies? For me, it took me two months to get into a seminar after seeing my doctor (which I'd waited a month for). I'd taken matters into my own hands and was halfway through my nutrition counseling, had completed my required psych eval and researched the surgeries extensively. My only disappointment was that the seminar presented really basic information and didn't get into the nitty gritty, which I was really eager to do.

Hi guys, I'm pre-op and trying to plan ahead what I can eat during the various phases after surgery. My nutritionist suggests sticking to foods with 10 grams of sugar or less and 5 grams of fat or less. But she also says olive oil is okay. Does that sound right to you guys? I'm hoping I can continue to use olive oil in salad dressings and to roast veggies. What's your experience been? Also, I have questions about meat. When I'm back to solid food, do you know if 93 percent fat free ground turkey or chicken is okay? Or does it need to be 99 percent fat free? I tried making turkey burgers this weekend with the 99 percent and they were, understandably, pretty dry. I'm wondering if 93 and cooking them on a george forman grill might work? Also, if I roast a whole chicken, is it okay to eat some of the dark meat? Or should I stick to white meat only? I'm a little unsure because there's the under 5 grams of fat guideline, but I know baked salmon is supposed to be okay and that has more than 10 grams of fat per 4 oz filet.

Actually Protein and carbohydrates each contain 4 calories per gram. You might be thinking of alcohol, which contains 7 calories per gram.

Even meat has carbs in limited quantities. It's nearly impossible to find a food that contains one macronutrient exclusively. Usually at least a trace amount of one of the others is present.