Cervidae

Don't we all! Truer statement never uttered.

oh wowwwww, that dress. SO beautiful. You have amazing taste! Congratulations on your health and success, your wedding, your gorgeous dress, and everything else!

Totally and 100% agree. <3 I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon, either.

Something I always try to remember and remind other wls patients of: this process is about health, not weight loss. Weight loss is the result of the changes you are making to get healthy. If you do the things that lead to health (eating enough protein, drinking enough water, sleeping enough, keeping your body active, etc) the weight loss naturally follows, no matter what, and it will happen exactly the way and exactly as fast/slow as your body needs it to. Just keep making healthy choices and your weight loss will happen. You've got this.

oh my gosh, you are SO pretty! you were before and you are now. Congratulations on your success and health!

Hello! I use myfitnesspal to keep track of my measurements, though I do have a record of more in-depth measurements that I update once a year on my surgery date. MFP keeps track of the basics, like waist, hips, neck, and give you an option to see graphs of your records and so on. When I am asked how many inches I lost, I say "x inches around the waist, x inches around the hips" and so on.

bookmarked to read when I've got some time this weekend.

It can also greatly reduce your body's ability to heal and permanently damage your immune system. It goes far beyond just being "an unhealthy lifestyle", unfortunately. My program required a blood test before surgery to prove that you have been smoke free for at least 6 weeks. Some programs even require you to sign a contract promising you will not smoke for at least a year following surgery, as it takes that long for your body to heal. It's a gamble with your life, plain and simple.

I had the same pain from drinking water for the first 10 months or so, then I realized one day it was just gone and I never noticed it leaving. It's just part of the healing process.

@@ejsisman - don't panic! Your surgery still happened. Your stomach is still surgically altered. The ability to fix this is still there. Just go back to basics. protein first, cut out white bread/pasta, drink more water, etc. And maybe use something like myfitnesspal to record your intake for a while, it's a great tool to help you get back on track. I know many people think you can stretch the pouch, but multiple Bariatric surgeons have told me that it's not. All that happens is we get better at pushing certain foods (usually slider/unhealthy foods) through our stomachs faster. Go back to eating what you should be and viola! You'll be losing weight again. You're still in control here. Don't give up that control just because you gained some weight back. The tool will always be there, now it's up to you to utilize that tool. I believe in you! Don't give up.

As with so many things after surgery, it depends on the person. It can give some people HORRIBLE munchies, which is a slippery slope after we've had surgery to shrink our stomachs. I smoke regularly, though not very much of it, to actually stimulate my appetite and help me sleep, which are both issues I've had since surgery. However, I know for a fact that for some people, the side effects (munchies, sleepiness/laziness, etc) can be detrimental. It's just been a positive habit for me, personally. So I would say just be aware of how it affects you and keep close tabs on your habits, and if it's more negative than positive of an effect, re-evaluate your priorities. If it starts being a problem rather than a solution for me at any time, I have no qualms about quitting. Hope my perspective and experience helps.

I posted a link to mine a few comments up! @@bayougirlmrsc

Now people. I want to just put a warning here. Try to contain yourself when you see THIS sexy fairy: http://imgur.com/a/WG5T6

Right now, the nerves in your stomach have only recently been severed and will need time and care to heal. You won't feel full during this time, as most people don't. There are some people who never actually feel that super-full feeling at any stage post-op, which is why it's so important to measure and be very aware of how much you eat. The difference now is the lack or great reduction in hunger, and that's what you need to use to your advantage. My surgeon always says "if you're always going to eat until you feel full, you'e always going to be cultivating the very habits that contributed to obesity in the first place." Eating til we were full before meant we ate until our stomachs were stretched to max capacity (somewhere around a football in size) and eating until we're full now just means we've hit the limit of our tiny stomachs and are now starting to fill our esophagus, but not necessarily that we've eaten enough for a meal, which is why we have to eat so slowly and measure portions. You could eat slow enough to get around the sleeve/bypass and be eating all day; nothing is stopping the food from passing through your stomach after a short time. Measuring and sticking with that amount regardless of fullness is key!

So, good news! Just a couple weeks ago I attended a seminar where questions such as these were answered by one of the bariatric surgeons at my awesome hospital. He says the stretching stomach is a myth. Most likely, your food is going through at a faster rate now, so you're making room in your stomach for more food sooner. He said he's been a bariatric surgeon for decades and he has never once seen, even after doing swallow tests/imaging of his patients' stomachs, evidence that a stomach actually stretches. Just means you need to be more aware of your portions and stop when you're done eating your set amount. You may not always feel full. Plus, the swelling in your stomach is probably way less now, so that will make you feel less full as well. Hope this helps!

depression and sleep paralysis are not considered co-morbidities of obesity, even though they are obviously linked. Hope it works out for you!

Following. My last quote from a plastic surgeon here was $26,000 for three procedures. No thank you!

Right now I'm all about spaghetti squash! My favorite is to make a delicious beef broth with bouillon and spices and toss in some tomato sauce, spaghetti squash, and turkey meatballs or shredded chicken, as well as a bit of real butter. It makes a super delicious, healthy, fast, and easy Soup that I'm crazy about.

Sounds like we are kindred anxious spirits. My strategy was to approach the entire process and each stage moving forward as "well, this is where I'm headed but I refuse to believe it is actually going to happen. I'm just aiming for this, and if it works, it works, and if it doesn't, it doesn't. No point in getting my hopes up". This may not work for some people but for me, it's the only approach that kept me sane. When my insurance approved, I was pleasantly surprised. When I got my date, I was ecstatic but hesitant to actually admit it was happening. When I went under for surgery I resolved to accept the possibility that I could wake up and the surgery wouldn't be done for some reason or another. During the healing phase as the pounds melted off I did my best but prepared to stop at any time and be stuck at 350 pounds, 300 pounds, 250 pounds, etc. Now I'm approaching my goal weight and here I am, still moving forward, still waiting to see if I somehow fall apart and fail and gain everything back. In the mean time, I enjoy my triumphs and successes and continue forward with my goals.

I often wish that too! I finally find a shirt I love that fits me well, is comfortable, and actually looks halfway decent... and I'm suddenly swimming in it by the next wear. It's depressing. :'(

Despite the RNY being notorious for having a lot of "no-no" foods even well into maintenance phase, I haven't found many foods I cannot tolerate now (almost 14 months post-op). There is one food I miss and one that would be a good addition back into my diet that just refuses to sit well in my tummy: steak. I've tried everything; eating it with a sauce of some kind, chewing it beyond paste consistency until it basically disintegrates into my mouth, eating the most tender filet possible, etc. It seems my tummy will never again allow me to eat such a dense Protein. Oh well! Could be way, way worse!

Hello. I was 23 when I had my RNY last year and I never told most of my family. I know just from growing up with them that the chances of them being extremely judgmental or worse had I actually told them were basically 100%. Even now at nearly 14 months post op and after losing over 250 pounds, I KNOW that if I told them about surgery, the happiness and pride they're feeling now about my health and progress would still be there, but it would be overshadowed by judgment, ignorance, and jealousy. Having them believe I changed my diet drastically, focus on exercise, and generally take much better care of myself is the reason I've lost weight (which, it is!) without knowing surgery kick-started it and made it possible is essentially showing me their kindness without the ignorance. It's a win-win situation to me. As for being young... how often do you see people here saying they wish they had done it when they were younger? How many people marveling at how incredible they feel and lamenting spending so many years, decades suffering when they could have prevented it? Does it even make sense to know what lays at the end of the road you're travelling is an early painful and humiliating death, but to keep travelling down that road instead of just taking a fork NOW before you harm yourself permanently? When I finally understood and really made myself believe these things, caring about the opinions of the people who bitch about me being too young just sort of melted away. They're telling me I'm too young to save my own life and fight for decades of extra years and health. After taking these things to heart, their opinions suddenly seem not only laughable but offensive. You're not a child anymore, and you know what you need to be healthy. It's time for the adults in our lives to sit down and stop being our authority. They are now the lucky spectators of our wonderful future.

I'm almost 14 months post op and I just finally broke a month-long stall. Be prepared for them to happen after surgery! Still, despite this stall and the stalls I've had pretty much every month since surgery, I'm down 194 pounds since surgery. It adds up, and in the end, the stalls will just be a distant memory but your health and weight loss will be a reality. Good luck to you.

female bodies are also equipped to hold on to fat stores as much as possible for baby reasons. Even our hormones are geared far more towards retaining both fat and Water than men.