judy1234

I miss my thick full hair.< /p>
I don't miss being out of breathe, unable to walk stairs, wearing "fat lady" clothes.

Veterans....#1 thing you miss / don't miss
the list would be too long
what OP said in their posts above are great
i 2nd them
i will not miss my bad health issues
plus sized clothes
living like a hermit
being a couch potato
emotional bad/sad feelings
basically............
there is mainly nothing about my "other" life that i miss
to all of us - i wish a healthier, happier, longer life
we all deserve it

happy new year!!!



kathy

I miss Pepsi and Coke. I don't miss hiding from the camera in family photos.

Miss: eating to excess. There's a container of leftover spaghetti and sauce in my fridge right now that is calling my name. I need the boyfriend to eat it for lunch today so I can toss whatever is left over. I have grilled salmon, veggies, and a small piece of baked potato for my lunch.< /p>
Don't miss: being obese and all it entails. hating to buy clothes..hating to go to parties and such because I hate the clothes I have to wear. Hating the feeling of invisibility but grateful for that rather than being stared at or made fun of. Hating being the biggest person in the room, hating being immobile... shall I go on? It's why I can leave the cold spaghetti where it is even though I want to eat it.

Not sure. I suspect that as you lose weight, the hormones that were stored inert in your fat cells are being dumped into your system. As you flush out your system with Water, your kidneys are expelling them from your body. Eventually when you level off in weight loss and enter maintenance phase, these extra hormones will no longer be dumped from your fat cells and your system should level out.
Exercise might help. Also I would make sure that you are drinking filter Water not tap water in order to minimize any additional load on your kidneys.

Just once now. There is actually quite a bit of discussion on here recently about whether a sleeve can actually stretch or not. Common theory was it couldn't but there is at least one poster on here recently who has been told her sleeve was stretched verified by an x-ray. But I digress.... If it went down in 10 minutes, you are completely fine. If you had food "stuck", the discomfort would last much longer. Just a learning opportunity for you.

​I would stay out of it. If he is remotely interested he will look into further.

​

Wow! This is a tough one. Really though. My first thought was if this was something he really wanted, he wouldn't be talked out of doing it. Honestly, I would stay out of. Just my thoughts. Good luck!

Stay calm! Stalls are a common occurance. Just remember to meet your Protein, Fluid and Vitamin daily requirements and walk around 30 minutes each day and then let the magic happen.

I would be super, super careful if you were you. All the other things said here are very important - giving in to carb cravings is only going to make it worse, eating all those carbs will make you too full for Protein, and the processed stuff is just absolutely awful for you. Not to mention, I've read a lot of horror stories about people eating bread too soon (like withing the first six months) and the bread getting stuck and tearing or causing serious pain and vomiting and a trip to the er.
I have no judgement here. As a person who has had the same surgery and been confronted with the same cravings and who has learned the cautionary tales I have, I feel genuine concern for you. At only two weeks out, your nerves in your stomach have not even really healed enough for you to feel the damage you are doing to them. That's why many people can drink decently fast in the beginning and then in several weeks they start feeling it and have to slow down. Not only that, but you've just undergone a life-altering, life-threatening surgery, to try to be healthy and be better to your body. Why ruin all of that work and great progress... and for spaghettios and a dry pancake? Is it really worth it to you, to damage your chances of health and long-term success for a few cravings?
I know you've got the will-power and strength, as you've already made it this far. No one can tell you what to do here, but if you're asking for words of wisdom/warning, here they are - don't sabotage yourself over food. It's just food, it doesn't deserve to control you and your life. You are better than that. The more you give in now, in the beginning, the smaller and smaller your chances get for long term success, and we all want to see you succeed. This surgery helps with the physiological causes of hunger, but the rest is ENTIRELY up to you, and if you don't address your bad food choices (perhaps with therapy? or a support group?), no surgery can help you.

A recent study was conducted by Dr. Jos Runhaar of the Erasmus MC, Department of General Practice, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues.
These researchers examined the records of 353 overweight or obese women (BMI ≥ 27 m/kg2), a subset of participants in the PROOF study (Prevention of Knee Osteoarthritis in Overweight Females), which was designed to examine the preventive efficacy of diet and exercise and glucosamine sulphate supplementation on the incidence of knee osteoarthritis. On average, the participants in this subgoup were 56 years old, and had BMIs of 33 kgm/m2. They compared the arthritis incidence in women who met a goal of losing either 5 kgm (about 11 pounds) or 5 percent of their body weight within 30 months of beginning the study, to the incidence in women who did not meet that goal. Initially, the women did not suffer from osteoarthritis, as determined by X-ray evidence of joint space narrowing.
The incidence of knee osteoarthritis was 15 percent for women who met that weight loss goal, compared to 20 percent in the women who did not; a numerically small but statistically significant difference. In addition, more of the women who didn’t meet the goal had osteophytes (bone spurs along the edges of the joint) than did those who did lose the weight — again a statistically significant difference. I wonder what effect might be observable on the many weight loss patients who have reduced their weight by as much as 50% of their body weight instead of the 5% within this study. Here is a link. http://acsh.org/news/2016/02/18/weight-loss-helps-prevent-knee-arthritis-who-knew/

I am only 5 days out, but I haven't had a problem getting in Protein shakes or Water. (I have, though, heard of many, many people who do, so you are not alone. The nurse is there to help you overcome issues, not to make you feel bad for having them!) We all have issues -- mine is pain. I am afraid I'm going to be called a drug addict because I should be off pain killers by now and instead I'm thinking of asking for something stronger. So everyone's got something to make things difficult in the beginning.
If you literally can't eat more than a couple of foods without getting queasy, maybe they aren't controlling your nausea well enough. Painkillers (if you're still using them) cause nausea in a lot of people. Maybe they can give you some Zofran to keep you from throwing up until your new pouch settles down. These are the kind of things you should feel comfortable discussing with your nurse. Making you feel stupid then sending you on your way with no resolution is dereliction of duty, in my opinion. Maybe an appointment with your surgeon is in order, or your PCP.

I've seen anywhere from 15-30 lbs. You're right - it really varies a lot depending on age, height, starting BMI, whether or not you lost a lot of weight prior to surgery, etc.
To answer your question, I lost 16 lbs the first month. Throughout this whole process, I've been a slow but steady user. I'm a 55-year-old female, had a BMI over 50, and lost 57 lbs before surgery. But I've lost a total of 164 lbs, so the weight *will* come off if you keep at it!

Got a call at 4am this morning from a client who's dog was having problems whelping. We kind of expected it as X-rays taken earlier this week showed only 1 pup. ( 1 pup = big pup = c section ). So we went and picked up the dog and took her to surgery. My vet got the pup out and I went to work on him while she proceeded to spay the mother (She's six and owner decided not to breed her anymore)
Unfortunately he wasn't breathing but I found a slow, faint heartbeat. I kept stimulating him, swung him upside down to clear his airway, even did a little mouth to mouth. His muzzle, nose, tongue and pads were totally blue. After a few minutes he finally took a breath. Then nothing. More stimulation, more mouth to mouth. Heartbeat became a little stronger. He'd take one gasping breath about once every 1-2 minutes, his tongue would pink up for a couple seconds then go blue again. Finally, after 20 minutes he started breathing more regularly and his tongue and muzzle and pads slowly turned a nice pink. It was another 20 minutes before he started crying and moving around.
By the time mom was out of surgery and waking up, he was acting like a normal puppy. He nuzzled into her belly, looking for food and as groggy as she was, mom licked and licked and licked him. We were able to take them home by 8am, I ran home to feed my dog and horses and headed back to start our regular appointments. Not a bad way to begin the day.

There are several books you may want to look at. I don't know if one book has everything you need.
Alex has a Big Book of Gastric Sleeve. I think there is also a Big Book of Weight Loss Surgery and/or Big Book of Bypass. You will need to look and see.
I like Eat it Up by Connie Stapleton.
There are lots of cookbooks. Eating Well after Weight Loss Surgery is one I have.
For general eating issues: When food is Love by Geneen Roth.
Our own Queen of Crop has a book about her first year's experience.

Food cravings can derail your weight loss efforts. The next time a craving hits, try thinking about your smaller stomach as a set of training wheels instead of a set of restrictive rules.


In the forum, I've seen a lot of concern about cheating on the pre-op diet and eating certain foods too soon after surgery. I understand these temptations. (Oh, boy, do I understand.) It is natural to crave what we can't have. Foods like pizza and Pasta suddenly seem preternaturally delicious. If we give in and eat something that's not on our diet plan, we react with guilt and shame--and we usually realize that pizza is not as awesome as we remembered.
Unfortunately, cravings come back again and again, promising a taste explosion. If we don't learn to resist most of these cravings, we can derail our weight loss efforts.
The next time a craving hits, try thinking about your smaller stomach as a set of training wheels instead of a set of restrictive rules. Your current body--your bicycle--is functional, but you have your heart set on that sleek racing model or muscular mountain bike. You yearn to zip down the street or take that rugged path through the forest. Before you can master the better bicycle, though, you have to learn to balance on the one you have--under all road and trail conditions. You have to be ready for the challenges ahead.
Training wheels are boring, but they help us avoid the worst of the bumps and bruises that can happen when we lose our balance and fall off the bike. We can still slip up and take a spill, but it's likely to be much less painful than if we were careening down a street unchecked, with no extra wheels to keep us upright.
Our smaller stomach does the same thing for us: it helps us maintain our balance while we're learning to nourish our bodies again. Before surgery, most of us had the freedom to eat a large variety and amount of food. We lost our balance repeatedly, and we paid for it with increased weight and medical problems. We injured our body--and mind--over and over.
We've already invested a lot of resources in our weight loss surgery, and we have a limited amount of time to make use of these training wheels. If we take the extra time and effort to learn the fine art of balance, we will be better prepared to handle the freedom that comes with the new, better models of our bodies. The excitement and adventures waiting for us down the road are worth a little boredom with the training wheels now.

I didn't really have the famous "3 week stall" but by three months out or so, I started getting my period again, and now I stall for 2-5 weeks every time I get my period. I just finally came out of a 5 week stall, thankfully.
It's going to be frustrating every time it happens, but it IS going to happen a lot. Despite my huge stalls every month, sometimes for most of the month, I've still lost almost 120 since the day of surgery 6.5 months ago. It all evens out in the end. Hang in there!

@@noonie79
I was 4 weeks post op and it lasted 2 weeks. I have had many since my longest being 28 days.
Just stick to the plan and it will start to move again. You are still losing inches and your body is simply adjusting.
I have learned there really is nothing to do but follow the plan.

They don't/can't see the work it took to get the degree or the dedication it took to get those promotions. They can, however, see your body shrinking. That's why the results of this particular addiction is impossible to hide. If an alcoholic is standing beside you, do you know they are an addict? Likely not unless they are truly at the end of their rope. Same for a drug addict. But a food addict...well, everyone knows of our struggles because it's out there for all to see. For me...I'm still a food addict but because I'm normal sized now, no one is aware. Still means I'm an addict though. Always will be too.

I haven't had my surgery yet. but as a long-term yo-yo dieter, yes, people treated me MUCH better when I was normal weight. Even jerks on the street who yell nasty things at women - Saturday I had a bozo yell, "MISS, MISS, YOU GOTTA BIG BUTT! YOU GOTTA BIG BUTT MISS!" I'm sure if I were thin he would have called me a bitch or something, but when you're big, people decide to go straight to insulting your size.

Amen!! For three years I worked full-time and got my master's degree part time. I was promoted twice during that time and increased my salary by 30%. I've lived abroad before. I've never NOT had a job since I was 16, and even babysat before when I was 13-15. I am a very hard worker, but no one acknowledges that. I drop a few pounds and all of a sudden people are now proud of me? WHAT IS THAT?
It's like people don't see what I've done with my life because I have fat on my body.

I was flipping through my kid's books the other day trying to find him a bedtime story and we read a book about a fish who wanted to get big and strong so he went to a restaurant and ate a bunch of high fat food. He ended up getting fat instead and all his fish friends laughed at him and made fun of him so he went on an exercise program to lose weight.
I was appalled. Fat shaming and food issues start at a very, very young age. I'm giving that damned book to Goodwill.
I am very early in my weight loss phase (22 pounds down! Yay!) but I can attest to feeling invisible. I get horrified looks from men when I talk to them, as if they're afraid I'm interested but they don't want anything to do with me so they try to ignore me (I'm gay, asshole). I'm going to be very peevish towards men who hit on me when I reach a normal weight. Likewise, I get a lot of pitying looks from women, looks also tinged with fear - and I know they're thinking "thank God I'm not that fat" or "I hope I never get THAT fat."
Obese people are treated very poorly in our country. Folks who have never had a weight problem before have no idea how hard it is.

I have noticed people acting differently toward me. Overall, people seem to be nicer to me. As I live in a very small town, this is much more noticeable, where people wouldn't speak to me at all before, now they do. You know, people who work at the grocery store for instance, or local businesses.
I have noticed as well, that I have more men just out of the blue, in passing, say hello to me, ask me how I am, and look me in the eyes, hold doors for me, smile at me. You would think this would be something to be happy about. This all actually makes me sad. I don't understand, because I am the same person I was before I lost all this weight. I suppose that it does come down to physical attraction, and I have always been hyper aware of just how unattractive fat is to some people, many people, in fact. Me, I never based any relationship on how a person looked. Who they are, is so much more important to me.
My family is a different story. They started out very supportive, and as I lose more and fit into smaller and smaller sizes, I am feeling the little barbs shoot at me, from some of my sisters. About loose skin, and wrinkles. I can only chalk that up to some type of jealousy. I am perplexed by this. As I was counting on my family for full support. I also notice that some friends are getting tired of hearing my "updates" and that I lost more weight. Or that I can do things I never have before, like cross my legs. For me, I'm just amazed...and it's a whole new world for me, as I have been big my entire life. I think it's a miracle that I can cross my legs, as an adult I haven't been able to. I'm 50 years old, and could never cross my legs as an adult. So to me it really is a whole new world, and I'm excited, I actually feel like a lady now.
I'll have to see how this progresses. One thing I do know, is that I am even MORE protective of people who are being made fun of because of their weight. I'm not like an ex-smoker who goes around bad mouthing everyone who smokes. I'm not a fat shamer, as I know exactly what it feels like to be out of control, and miserable in your own skin. I also know everyone has to come to terms with their weight in their own way, and time. Or not. It is not my job, or my business telling others they "need" to lose weight.

I was in a store today and there were 5 kids that were being offensive. I asked them to watch their language in front of my daughter and one of the kids went on a two minute rant about me being fat. I was so sad. I know I shouldn't have let it get to me so much but I just can't wait until hopefully one day people can see me for more as a fat lady.
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

@@shellyd88 - this is something I am anxious about and already resentful in anticipation. There is part of me that wants to believe that I am a person of worth, no matter my size. Of course, how can I expect others to treat me with dignity when I don't treat myself with dignity?
This is especially a concern with my parents. I am still 10 weeks pre-op and I have only lost 25 pounds. They are already saying how proud of me they are. Why can't they be proud of me for other, more acceptable things other than the fact that my pants fit better?