Christinamo7

I am a very conservative person - and happily married - but I have an unreasonable crush on Robert Reich. that's my guilty pleasure.

42 wings? impressive. I am continually amazed when I compare what I used to eat compared to what I can eat now. How long did you feel ill after this wee episode? I get plain unbreaded cheese curds, and love them - but I can no longer handle anything that has been fried, even if the breading is removed. which, all in all, is a good trade off for being healthier.

most of my kids are grown - but with raising 7 kids, assorted friends and my husband - the idea of not having things I shouldn't eat around is not realistic. additionally NONE of them are overweight. at all. never have been. if anything my three youngest lean towards being too thin. SO. I have to be able to have good choices for me amongst the other food available. often if I bake them Cookies I choose a kind of cookie that is not my favorite for one example. or starches with dinner that are not my favorite things. cuts down on the temptation for me. I simply don't like fish, and yet I often cook fish, especially salmon and then salmon patties for my family. it's just not a big deal.

I was cleared for raw veg and any regular food at 4 weeks.

46, HW 267 SW 238 now 197

you know, it's really fine to say you wish people would drop it - but I really don't think being horrified by someone's poor choice constitutes being a bully.

thank you to everyone for sharing your stories and for your condolences. this has been a difficult week going back to work and all. I remain heartbroken and just trying to do the things I need to do.

well. I do think it is easier with the surgery than without. but I don't think it's easy and I don't think it is cheating. I do however tell people if there WAS a way to cheat or an easy way I would push and fight my way to the front of the line. Obesity is deadly and I am not going to play nice with it. my motivation was to have normal blood sugar and weigh less than my husband. Successful already on both counts, so now I will continue to follow the eating program and see how low my body wants to go. I am one happy camper.

it does get easier post op. it was impossible before surgery. my family is very supportive but they do not eat like I do. I was obese, they are not. I had surgery, they did not. I have learned to live around their temptations. hang in there!

so - I left and rejected all the other bariatric support sites because you were not allowed to say someone was making a dangerous choice. this was the ONLY Bariatric support site I found where people are allowed to be real. I value that highly.

I would just go forward with your surgery and life and not give any un-needed explainations to people. Wishing you all the best with your surgery and recovery. I would want to know if one of my children were having surgery whether I agreed with them or not, so from a mom perspective I am glad you told her, but I know some people are just not safe to share things with - and that is not your fault. you are only responsible for you!

whoops! sorry!

I am not sure how many I take on a daily basis. I take a number of nutritional supplements since I was in my mid 30s. lets see. 2 salmon oil. 1 cod liver oil. 1 acetyl l carnitine with alpha lipoic acid. 1 turmeric. 1 cinnamon. 1 probiotic. 1 Calcium. 1 womens Multivitamin. 1 zinc and other things. 1 Vitamin C I'm probably forgetting something but not sure what. no deficiencies to this point. the calcium and multi were added post sleeve. in the spring and in the fall I take a course of milk thistle - I buy some things buy one get one at Kroger and some things at Whole Body. I've never broken down a monthly cost as these are 30-120 per bottle and many of them my husband takes and some of them my kidlets take - so it would be too much like Math to figure out for me the monthly cost. it's cheaper than a prescription for my ADD though, and cheaper than a dermatologist as many of these things make your skin look lovely. I used this book to set up my personal vitamin regimen https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Guide-Vitamins-Minerals-Supplements-ebook/dp/B007WWMXZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467941805&sr=8-1&keywords=a+quick+guide+to+vitamins as well as following Dr. Andrew Weil, Dr. Daniel Amen and Dr. Perricone's writings to educate myself and make my own decisions about what I wanted to take. probably more info than you were looking for, but there it is. ***edited because I forgot co Q 10.

@@OKCPirate you.are.fabulous. that is all.

I was more afraid of the obesity and what it was doing to my life than I was of the possible changes with surgery. then I knew I was ready.

I'll miss seeing your posts.

how is it possible? Water retention, or constipation. If your calories in are less than your calories out, it is not fat. if you are eating way to little your body will hold on to water too. just keep following the plan, and it will sort it's self out.

I have popcorn sometimes. So far, it does not seem to be a slider food for me at all. I can eat about 1.5 cups and I am DONE. but it is a nice occasional snack.

your weight loss seems to be well above average - it's normal for it to slow down. just keep following the plan.

my doctor told me as soon as I wanted to. so, if nausea makes you not want to - then wait a while. or look for a time of day when you are not feeling the nausea. or you may find that you and your partner prefer gentle rather than vigorous for a little while and that's fine, because it's all good, eh?

so the deal is 90% of this is what you eat and when. you follow your eating plan you will loose weight whether or not you exercise. most of us were restricted to just walking for around 4 weeks or so while healing. but when I read the long term success stories, I would say the vast majority of them have found some sort of physical activity they enjoy. the ones who look the best seem to get into some sort of weight lifting.

I think it's fairly normal - I am between 4-5 months and my weight has been staying mostly the same for about 3 weeks. Granted I've had a lot going on (a flare up of auto-immune - steroids - and a death of an immediate family member) but still - stalls are frustrating a bit. When I have been paying attention to other things I noticed my body is really changing - my face and stomach are smaller. Have your measurements changed? now that my immediate trauma's are over it is time for me to get back to my main focus being on my diet (Protein protein protein) and moving my body. gentle yoga and walking for now. I hope to soon hear from you, and experience for myself, that the scale will be moving again too!

I avoid fake sugar (I tend to use Stevia, but no other sugar substitutes), fake butters - and fat free dairy. I try to avoid corn products, or simple carbs for the most part.

well I can promise you this, your taste buds will adapt. it's just like people who drink skim milk, regular milk tastes like it leaves a film on their mouth, and people who drink regular milk feel that skim tastes watered down. when you do eat old favorites they just will probably not taste as good as you remember. which means that in order to have long term success you need to find other ways to allow yourself to feel love. you need to find things other than food that allow you to love yourself. a hobby, a sport, an activity...... those kinds of things. I get manicures, I go for long walks, I soak in a scented epsom salts bath, I crochet and do quilting projects. I have so much more energy for the things I enjoy. and once I got back on real food, I enjoy cooking for my family and eating just the bits that fit within my plan. I would rather have loose skin than skin filled out with fat. I do get hungry but it is nothing like the hungry monster I battled with before surgery. now I just get an empty feeling if I don't eat often enough. but you are worth it! get professional help if needed -

hungry feels more like empty for me now - but I have from the beginning felt real hunger. it is just manageable for me now compared to before surgery when it nagged at me all the time. and I am not talking about the head hunger or acid. I was up and walking right away - and I was cleared for other exercise/lifting things as tolerated at my 4 week check up. and you have to be working with your team if you start working out hard, as too much of a calorie defect can halt your weight loss also.