higher

It is brutal. Was brutal. Past tense now. I'm still fatter than most of these women but far from the fattest and I fit into designer clothes now. Not to mention I have always had better taste and style than most of them and that really shows now that I'm slimmer.

It's funny that you say that about the skinny Manhattan chicks you're around. I've been watching a lot more tv than I usually do bc I've been tired and weak post op, and I've noticed all the real housewives of OC are super into low carb and barely eat. See? We're just fancy now Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App I specifically remember a work dinner a couple of years ago when one of the sales ladies from New York was analyzing the menu looking for something under 300 or 400 calories. I thought to myself what a horrible life as I proceeded to order and scarf down buffalo chicken tenders, french fries, and 3 glasses of red wine. Now, I see how much better life can be by making those choices as she did. It is amazing the mental shift that this journey requires and insists that you cultivate over time! We are totally just fancy now. Not to mention I can now analyze a menu for the "right" choice in like 30 seconds flat and no one will even notice I'm ordering in any kind of special or weird way. Living in NYC and being a professional, running in certain circles etc helps. I could tell people I'm on an all moon dust diet or I'm doing something Gwyneth Paltrow recommended and nobody would blink. Women I work with go on Soup fasts, juice fasts etc. High Protein low carb is super normal next to all that.

@@blizair09 @@OutsideMatchInside Yes that's totally what it is! I had a really lovely experience recently traveling for work trip recently. I was out to dinner with a senior colleague, a professionally dressed slender woman, at a gorgeous little French boite in New England. The waitress came over to see if we wanted the complimentary bread basket or no. I swear back when I was way fatter, or if I had been with a group of dudes she would have just dropped off the bread basket. But she knows when she sees two nicely dressed ladies visiting from NYC they will most likely leave the bread basket untouched. It was a great NSV.

I put myself on what I called a pre-pre-op diet. Very low carb, focus on protein first. I did it best I could for about the month before my official 5 day pre-op diet started.

I wait to drink after I eat but not before. Why does your surgeon want you to spend 3-4 hours a day not taking in any fluids?

I'm 5 months out. I don't eat the way that was "normal" for ME pre-op because I ate too much crap but the way I eat NOW is normal for skinny people. Small portions, hold the bread, no dessert- that's the "normal" lifestyle for all the skinny Manhattan ladies I work with. And I have wine at least once a week. So it depends what you mean by normal I guess.

5 months out. Every 1-2 days.

There was just a brief period pre and post-op for me where I was on a very restrictive diet. Barely a month in total. I'm 5 months post op and I go out to eat all the time and have been without issue. I live in NYC and regularly dine at some of the world's finest and most exciting restaurants. I order chicken, fish, steak, burgers, etc - PROTEIN and a side of salad or green vegetable. It's a totally normal way to eat. I take home leftovers and have meals for the next day. It's great. Plus I hate to cook so it makes my life easier.

No prob @@OzRoo ! It's one of my favorite words. Happy to share.

For my entire life pre-op I would get a runny nose and/or have a sneezing fit if I stufffed myself. The term for it is snatiation. It's happened to me a couple of times post-op when I was one or two bites over I think, so it's the same snatiation reaction. A lot of random things make me sneezey though. LOL.

Heh, I think I've posed this question before myself. I'm sure it completely varies from person to person. I'm averaging out to a loss of 2.7 lbs /week at just over 5 months out. Which totally blows my mind and is way higher than I expected.

I'm 5 months out. I enjoyed a wonderful day with my family. It was so nice not to overeat on Thanksgiving for once. It helped that our hosts this year weren't great cooks I guess. I availed myself to the charcuterie platter around 2 pm and enjoyed some humboldt fog, high quality brie, and salami. When we sat down to dinner I had what I eyeballed as a 2-3 oz serving of turkey white meat, and a couple of bites of a roasted sweet potato. I put everything else on my plate but it just didn't look so great so I didn't bother! Skipped dessert and took the extra time to run around with my nephews. Great holiday for me.

I'm 6 days post op. And I'm supposed to start on Protein shakes next week and start introducing solids at week 3. Today I went against my clear liquids and ate so much and I'm freaking out a bit. Sent from my SM-G530T using the BariatricPal App I hope my post wasn't misconstrued. I never, ever went off my plan and ate something I shouldn't. Especially in the early stages. I was super careful to follow my doctors orders and I recommend you do that as well. Your stomach is still healing from major surgery which is why you're on a liquid diet at 6 days out. My plan progressed faster than most, but I was still on liquid at that point for sure. I recommend you speak to your doctor about what you ate- be totally truthful and get some help.

I was allowed alcohol by my surgeon pretty quickly post-op and drink 1-2 x a week generally. This didn't happen at first, but as I've lost weight further out from surgery alcohol hits me much more quickly than it did pre-op. It also wears off quickly, but yeah I'm pretty loose after just 1 drink. I consider it a blessing - less calories and less $$! If you are allowed to progress to include alcohol just make sure you're conscious of how it fits into your daily protein/calories consumption and make smart choices.

Beautiful post. You inspire me! Happy Thanksgiving.

I'm 5 months out today. I have had no issues at all with food and my doctor had me on solids fairly quickly (3 weeks) post op. I don't feel the restriction other people on here feel at 2-3 oz. I see people write about how few calories they consume and I'm like whaaaaat? I eat as much as 1300 calories a day, never less than 900 and regularly eat 4-6 oz of dense Proteins as my meals with no problem. No overwhelming feeling of fullness. But I'm cool with that! My sleeve works great. I feel that I've been losing steadily and at a fast clip. I'm thrilled with my loss. And even more thrilled that I don't suffer from any discomfort and that I'm able to portion control without that factor. I honestly feel like that's how it's SUPPOSED to work. You shouldn't feel pain or discomfort everytime you eat for the rest of your life.

Travel can really mess with you. It can cause constipation. Or some people don't drink enough water when they travel. Or all the food you eat is more salty than usual because it's restaurant or packaged food. If you are sticking to your plan, the scale will move again. I promise you! I know it's frustrating. Hang in there and keep to it and it will happen. You won't be stalled forever.

I absolutely love your post @@LittleBill ! That book is a real classic. It really stirs emotion in me everytime I read it to my nephews. A great message. Trying to keep up with the kiddos in my family was one of my motivators to have surgery and succeed at weight loss as well. It's been working out great for me so far. Enjoy your beautiful family. Happy thanksgiving !

My surgeon did require this. He has you sit down and watch it at your final pre-op appointment. I had actually already watched several YouTube videos beforehand because I was curious so it was repetitive for me, but no harm done.

This is fantastic. Thanks for sharing ! And also a reminder that one day I really would like to be able to travel with just a backpack. Smaller clothes will help

3 months post op and it's a frigid 40 degrees in NYC. I shivered audibly several times today. I've got to rethink my entire wardrobe if this keeps up- black tights all winter won't cut it. I also need a new super heavy comforter and maybe a warm fuzzy robe? Does anyone have any recommendations for either of those? I need like a serious surviving winter in Scandinavia style comforter. So so cold.

yeah, I didn't have any actual reflux symptoms that came on w/o Prilosec except for the raspy voice and some congestion. But those went away after a couple of days of restarting the Prilosec. My dr said if I had reflux "I would know it" but I think the symptoms must vary in different people. I'm almost done with this round of Prilosec and am thinking about staying off it a bit to see what happens. I'll let you know if I lose my voice again.

YES therapy helps with everything!! I can't even imagine going through life without it at this point.

You should try online dating. Set a week or two aside where you just say yes to as many dates as possible and don't assign too much importance to any one date. Just focus on getting comfortable with putting yourself out there and the rest will flow from there. That's the great thing about dating in 2016! I don't advise discussing surgery on the first date if you can avoid it. Personally I hate dinner dates anyway, try meeting for coffee, museums + galleries, go see a band or a play, hang out in the park....stuff that doesn't necessarily entail food/booze.

It might be related to reflux. I was dealing w a raspy voice after I went off Prilosec and haven't had any issues since going back on. That's my only thought for you.