RetroGirl

Hi to all you sleevers and sleevers-to-be! I've just had my VSG (August 19th) and I'm looking for a good support group, so I joined the bariatricpal. I'm from Poland and unfortunetely I haven't been able to find any local support group. Not sure if because the surgery is less popular here or because of the stigma attached to it. So I just wanted to say hi, I'll we sticking around. I'm hoping for the best. My surgery weight was 253 lbs, I am now 246 lbs. My goal weight is around 155 lbs (70 kg, we don't use lbs in Poland so it's an adjustment) Margie

Ok, so I’m almost 3 weeks out and my relationship with food is just bizarre. I don’t crave it, I don’t really care, and so far I haven’t felt physical hunger - not even once. That being said, just this week I: Cooked curry and traditional Polish potato& meat pie for my parents, then made a chocolate cake for my colleagues at work followed by a lemon meringue tart for the friend I live with Watched 5 episodes of Masterchef Australia and a documentary about fast food (how does that even concern me? Obviously I won’t have a pureed take away!). This is ridiculous. I haven’t tried any of it and didn’t want to, and I can’t really figure out why it is that I’m doing it. Mostly I feel like since I KNOW I can’t have it and WON’T have it no matter what, I can actually enjoy food without eating and the sense of guilt that I usually felt afterwards. It’s like I know it can’t harm me, so I’m safe. But then I just think I’m like a crack addict and I use this as a substitute for a good old pigout session. Anyone who can relate to this twisted behaviour?

Yes, I did it! I'm 211. Thank you for the challenge.

Sorry I'm late. My Monday weight was 215. Sorry I'm late. My Monday weight was 215.

217 this week. Not that great, but I did reach the 35 BMI, which is kinda cool.

Well this wasn't a great week. I'm 219, meaning I only lost 1 pound.

No, the guy was actually Polish. I suppose he might have even grown in to a decent man... Never date a guy in his early twenties, I guess. I'm from Warsaw, for some reason we're not experiencing the British plague here. I guess vomiting and pissing in public is only fun in Cracow.

Warning: this is more or less a variation on the never ending ‘should I tell a guy I’m dating’ & ‘how quys react to WLS’ theme, so if you are tired of that jibber jabber, move on to something else. I’m just 1 month out. I’ve recently met a guy and although I’m not exactly into dating at the moment, we immediately hit it off. So we went on a couple of foodless, decaf, non-alcoholic dates, and surprisingly had a lot of fun. Apart from me constantly having to come up with reasons for my unconventional dating behavior while still giving the impression of a sane person, of course. I hate lying on dates (not that I have moral issues, it just makes me more nervous), so coming up with answers that were truthful but wouldn’t expose the fact I had WLS has been EXHAUSTING. This is just a sample dialog: ‘Does 6 pm work for you?’ ‘Can we make it 7?’ ‘That’s fine. What do you do at 6?’ ‘I’m having dinner’ ‘Couldn’t we have dinner together?’ ‘I don’t think that’s the best idea’ ‘Why, do you have celery for dinner?’ etc. So yesterday he invited me over and it was all going very smoothly, except he kept offering me something to drink, and I just got tired of excuses, so… I told him I recently had the surgery to help me lose weight and I was in recovery, following a special diet. After a minute or two of what seemed to me like an awkward silence, ‘Ok. So are you allowed to have sex yet?’ Am I crazy to think out of all the answers he could have given, that one was actually pretty good?

When I was 22 I went on a date with a pretty cool guy whom I met at a party. We had a coffee that turned to be wine and after that we went for a walk for about an hour. It was freezing and started snowing, so I invited him over to my place – nothing more intended. The date was actually going well, he seemed interested and I was enjoying the night. Until… We got to my place and after 10 minutes my flatmate (male) came home. It turned out they were good friends in middle school and they immediately started to act like they were still 12 or 13… Suddenly it seemed I was no longer in the room –the guys were just having their bro-get-together, laughing like pigs/ wild donkeys. I sat there for about 30-40 minutes (I spent the first 5 minutes kicking my clueless friend under the table) and got bored to death, so I actually laid down on the couch and fell asleep from the winter wine combination.The guys got drunk and judging by the sounds they both threw up all the beer they had plus some internal organs and a few pieces of soul. Disgusting. I almost tripped over one of them in the dark when I woke up in the middle of the night to get some Water. Anyway, I met the guy couple of days later and he said something like ‘Oh I had a great time’. I laughed.

I'm only 3 weeks out, but I've been looking for different diet recommendations for sleeve patients. During my pre-op appointment my nutritionist specifically told me she was not the low-carb believer, meaning she would prefer me to have a balanced diet. I know most people here tend to stick to the low carb rule, so I started questioning her advice and I'm now a little bit lost. I am suppose to see her in 3 weeks to talk about my further diet, but I've come across this article: http://bariatrictimes.com/recommended-levels-of-carbohydrate-after-bariatric-surgery I now it applies mostly to the gastric bypass patients, however, the recommendations seem to be based on the average calorie intake 6 months12 months post op, which I think are not too different from those most sleeve patients follow. What do your NUTs say about carbs?

220 this morning.

I'm not an expert, but it seems to me that although there are people with faster and with slower metabolism, and although it's harder to maintain the weight if you used to be overweight, most people who are thin just don't eat as much and/or they exercise. Of course when someone slim tells me 'I've just eaten two donuts' my first thought is exactly the same as your. But I must honestly and unwillingly admit that I didn't get obese by eating one donut per day - I overate in terms of calories and portions every single day, and I could easily stuff myself with 3-4 donuts a time. I know not everyone works out and watches the food intake, but still... I'm pretty sure they don't binge like I use to.

I'm glad I live in a country where Halloween is not a thing. My first challenge will be Christmas. Good luck with the recipes!

It's only as important as you make it. I can relate since I'm worried about how my skin will look in a couple months, but seriously... Being overweight/obese used to stop me from doing so many things I wanted, I'm not letting myself think like that anymore, and I'm certainly not going to wait until my body is 'perfect', because that won't happen. Ever.

227 this morning. It seems like my scale knows that I log my weight on Monday. During the week there is barely any loss, and than there's usually 2 pounds Sunday-Monday.

I think it really depends on the person... Some people are more nosy than others. In my case eating out wasn't an option because I was very early on and my diet plan didn't give me many options, not to say almost any. You are right though, in the restaurant everyone is pretty much busy with their own meal. But once they invite you to their place, they usually pay more attention and it's harder to hide.

I had one binging session 3 months prior to the surgery, when I was on my NUT eating plan. Next day I felt horrible about it and decided there is no way I would do that again, because I didn't want to feel bad about anything related to what I hoped to be the best decision in my life. From that point I sticked to my pre-op diet and now I feel the same about the post-op one.

My weight this morning 230 lbs.

Oh I did the exact same thing. And it wasn't easy, because apparently no two items that have a label suggesting they are the same size are ACTUALLY the same size. It's also a little confusing since it's not my usual organizational system for the closet. One thing I'm a bit worried about tough is I'm pretty sure I will throw out a lot of the clothes I have. My style has changed so much since I was able to wear them couple years ago. Maybe I'll alter some of them - suddenly learning how to saw seems like the best financial decision I made in my life!

Thank you for that post. One thing I would add is if your weight loss has slowed down, but you're still losing, it's not a stall...

I haven't told my PCP, because I only see him once a year or so... I don't get sick very often. I doubt he even knows how I look. I did tell my physical therapist and my orthopaedist.

I thought the same thing and I agree it's a very personal matter. Also, I suppose people can be quite judgemental about WLS. I actually think bringing things like that up in the early stages can be a bit of a self-sabotage... When you barely no the other person some things seem like deal breakers, but once you form an emotional connection they don't really matter. In this particular case I felt all the effort that went into keeping it secret was in the way of me having a good time.

I’ve been training white voice singing (a very distinct traditional singing style from Eastern Europe) for the last 3 years. Unfortunately since I had the surgery my diaphragm has been giving me hard time, I hope it will bounce back quickly. I also like cooking for friends and family. And I love salsa.

So I'm 26 now I recently sleeved, and this topic is WLS related. But since there are a lot of women here who are/were overweight and struggling with their weight, I thought I would ask a question about MEN. Can anyone relate to this problem? I have been everwight since I were a child and this really affected my confidence. I'm still kind of a pretty-face girl, and men do hit on me from time to time (not that often, but it does happen). And yet i usually reject them right away, even when there is a certain physical attraction. I just assume they are approaching me cause the think I'm an easy target - 'obviously a chabby girl won't miss that kind of opportunity' kind of thing. I know it's pretty stupid sometimes, but then, it seems to me men often are much bolder and daring with overweight girls. So from time to time it makes me think how many opportunities of meeting great men I missed because of my low self-confidence. Does anyone have/ did have the same issues?

Well, in my case, I feel like I was in the 'on hold' mode most of my life. Not because I was obese (I never had mobility problems or other physical issues related to my weight), but because of how it made me feel. I always felt there were so many things I couldn't do because I was afraid of humuliation. I think this changed for my after the accident I had 18 months ago, which caused a partial motor dysfunction of my left arm. For about a year I was postponing all my plans and focusing on full recovery, until I realised that's just ridiculous and may never happen. So I stopped caring so much about how other people would perceive me. I figured I can wait for something I have limited control over, or I can just enjoy what I have now. I joined a salsa class (something I haven't done for 15 years). And then I had an epiphany - if I don't mind dancing with a slightly disabled arm, why the hell do I care that I'm fat? I can still swing my hips.