mellivenelli

I'm a believer that we are allowed to have something "bad" every now and then so long as mentally we are aware of what we're putting in our mouth, and that it can't happen all the time. I had a small slice of cheesecake last night because we were celebrating a birthday. I had to have mine 3 hours after dinner, but I got to have a few bites of it and it was great. I've had some organic baked potato chips a couple of times. I've eaten popcorn at the movie theater twice. Those are about the extent of "bad things" I've had.
This surgery is not (though many seem to believe it is) meant to eradicate every unhealthy piece of food from your life for the rest of your life. That's really setting yourself up to fail because it is natural to want something "bad". What this surgery is for is to push us to eat healthy things first and have the bad things fewer and less of. That's what I stick to. I'm lucky enough that I can have these "bad" things every so often and stick to my healthy eating the rest of the time. In the beginning the first time I broke away from my diet (3 months post-op I had some cheesecake when we went out of town) I beat myself up for it so badly that I was so angry with myself. Then a friend of mine who was the opposite of me, she suffered from bulimia, scolded me for it because for 3 months I stuck to it and I went right back to it after that small piece. I didn't make it a habit, I didn't let it lead me to other things constantly. Her advice was to allow myself those things as a treat every once in a while to keep myself mentally steady. For me it's worked. I know not everyone has the willpower, and it can be a slippery slope if you let it. Be aware. If you're grazing, graze on healthy things like veggies. Save the "bad" things for the once in a while "treats", but only if you are confident that you can stay on track doing so. Having things once in a while doesn't make you a failure.

December 20th here. Bricking it.
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Hi everyone! Im having the RNY on 20th december in the UK. Start my LRD on tuesday. Wishing you all luck!
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Currently waiting to go down for my bypass. Scared but excited. Praying it goes ok cos I've got lots of health problems. Good luck to anyone else going through this too.
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Currently waiting to go down for my bypass. Scared but excited. Praying it goes ok cos I've got lots of health problems. Good luck to anyone else going through this too.
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Currently waiting to go down for my bypass. Scared but excited. Praying it goes ok cos I've got lots of health problems. Good luck to anyone else going through this too.
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Currently waiting to go down for my bypass. Scared but excited. Praying it goes ok cos I've got lots of health problems. Good luck to anyone else going through this too.
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These are out there on other threads but here are my before/during/after. Surgery December 2013 down 136lbs and maintaining.
     

Having been here a few months now, it’s become obvious that it’s so different for people having weight loss surgery in the UK. Procedures here before WLS is different. Most of the people over the pond have it through their insurance and this means a lot of pre operation meetings/assessments/work, over many months. In some ways I feel this is good, as people get to learn so much before having their surgery. However that’s not the usual way here in the UK. You tend to learn ‘in the moment’. If you are eligible for WLS through the National Health Service, you may have to wait for a long time, 2 to 3 or up to 10 years unless you are at the stage where your weight is life or death. So, many fund it themselves.
I think this site is excellent for advice and support however it does mainly tend to show what happens in the States, where you can buy certain things and what’s available. So here’s a few things (not exclusive, would love it if others add stuff here too) I have learnt in my very short weeks since surgery.
PLEASE can we all add our own likes/dislikes, UK advice etc etc
Bariatric cookery books are excellent however there are many other options to learn about pre and post op foods. My dietitian is great but I have learnt so much through researching online. There are so many Bariatric Centres all over the world showing what you can eat pre ad post op and as long as you add a dash of common sense, it can work well. For example; if I read from a Bariatric Centre that I could eat tuna on day 3, I would be clicking the X asap!! Centrum advantage chewable Vitamins are lovely and recommended by UK Dietitians for post bariatric surgery. Tesco’s have them on offer at the moment, 3 for 2. They have carbs, but balancing a few carbs for nice tasting Vitamins isn’t going to kill me for the time being. Keep your fridge/cupboard stocked once you know what goes down well for you. Don’t spend too much in advance in case you don’t like it. I spent a lot on liquid Iron without asking around and my god, it was disgusting. I took it twice then threw it away. I could have asked here and go advice but I didn’t. (see below) Use this UK forum to keep in touch with others in the UK to ask for and pass on advice. We aren’t the minority in the world for WLS however we are a small group here. Make friends here, they can be the best support you can ask for! OVER TO YOU !!!

No alarm necessary today. My anxious mind woke up at 3am with anticipation of this surgery day. No thoughts really, just visions of closing my eyes on the operating table and opening them in a foreign room, foreign country... what am I thinking? How irresponsible my mom would think I was, my friends would think it's superficial, my husband thinks of the cost...
And as I sit here in the airport, staring at gate H7, I reflect on those thoughts and have 2 hours of alone time before boarding my flight. What is this small town girl thinking? I'm flying to freaking Mexico for a surgery I scheduled and planned less than two weeks ago. That's how I roll... too much planning makes me feel lost in needless details characteristic of my right brained mind. Think. Think. What am I doing here?
My anxiety should have had me in the bathroom by now, but I feel calm. Peaceful. Thankful.
I hated the week of fasting-liquid diet. And now, I feel satisfaction in dominating my cravings while secretly wanting to throat punch noisy sandwich bag guy three chairs down from me. food has bound my soul for so many long years and my reflection feels like an escape. Being stuck on food island, deserted and alone... I used to daydream about life as I'd want it to be and now I have every hope that it can happen.
What am I thinking? I smile. I feel comfort. Peace. Love... for myself. I've never said that before. Then again, I've never made myself a priority--always put others first and care way too much what others think, feel and say. Today, it's all about me. And I think I'm going to love me!
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Sending strength and healing vibes x
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Hi everyone! Im having the RNY on 20th december in the UK. Start my LRD on tuesday. Wishing you all luck!
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I have to start my Preop diet tomorrow and scared I am not going to be able to do it. Has anyone had any trouble doing the preop diet? What helped you with those struggles?
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I survived the two week liquid diet and lost 20lbs.. My surgery is this morning. I have to be there at 5:30am and surgery is at 7:30am...his first of the day. I am so thankful that I found these forums a short time ago. I actually feel prepared. I'm not worried, just excited. God has got me in the palms of His hands. I'm just going to enjoy my nap and deal with everything else as it comes. I'll check back in when I can. For those of you at the beginning of your journey...hang in there. Your time is coming!!
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13

I have been on this forum for about a year and a half. I have seen so many posts of people worrying about excess skin after weight loss. I find this to be incredibly trite and shallow, a roadblock thrown up in the mind to justify the subconscious reasons why we put on and hold the weight to begin with.
First of all, there are of course permanent consequences for getting so big that your skin has to stretch to be twice the size it would be if we were normal weight. It doesn't go back to a state in which it was as if we never were overweight. And so what? What is often unspoken in these forums is that a very overweight person worrying about how they are going to look if they lose weight because of sagging skin, is silly in a society in which obesity is considered ugly to begin with.
More importantly, most of us have the surgery because our bodies and lives were becoming unmanageable due to excess weight, not to look better at speed dating.
For those who are asking the question I have seen posted on this forum a million times, no your skin will not go back to being how it was before your weight gain. There is no cream, no wrap, no swanky magic that's going to make it be as if you were never overweight. The only real option for getting rid of excess skin if you are very overweight when you start, is plastic surgery.
And that comes with its own price. I am not knocking people who choose to have that, I might even choose that eventually, as vanity is one of my flaws. That said, plastic surgery is very very serious, and fairly savage. And still, your body cannot look like it would have if you had never put on weight. They will be scars. Big ones. Surgery of any kind is a serious injury to the body.
The point I am trying to make is that if you are considering having weight-loss surgery to save your life, stop worrying about your skin. Worry about the inner conditions that have led you to the point where this is necessary. Focus instead on changing your behaviors. Focus instead on health, not looks. We have such a distorted view of bodies in this country. Body diversity is beautiful! Stop thinking that you have to look a certain way. Be healthy. Be you.
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When I was preparing to have my sleeve surgery, I spent a lot of time on this forum. I found most of the people here to be very helpful. Even though there's every kind of personality here, we all have one thing in common: we wanted to lose weight and be healthier.
Approaching any surgery is scary. There are real risks, and real rewards when all goes well.
I have struggled with weight my whole life. Total sugar junkie. Used food to replace every unmet need I had, to repress every emotion for which I was unprepared to deal.
I gained and lost hundreds of pounds over the course of my life. Hundreds.
When my husband died eight years ago it broke me. I shattered, and it took me almost a decade to put myself back together. During that time, I lost everything: my beloved, my home, my income, even my sense of self. And I spent the next eight years eating to fill this giant empty void inside my being where someone who I thought of as the love of my life used to be.
I ballooned up bigger than I had ever been, surpassing my previous high weight and moving into the 320s.
I avoided social situations, and only left the house when necessary. I was afraid I would have to ask for a stronger chair when invited to sit down for dinner at somebody's home. I was afraid that I would need to sit down every 20 or 30 steps during a leisurely stroll through the mall with a friend. My body ached; sometimes the pain was so bad that I could scarcely move-even sitting still was painful.
Life had become extremely small.
Deciding to get the surgery was surprisingly easy, but getting through the approval process and going through with the surgery summoned up terror in me that had been there since my first surgery when I was three years old.
I thought it would be a miracle if I were able to get the surgery, simply because my trauma was so severe for so many years that it seemed like an impossible feat to put myself in the hands of medical professionals, who I have never trusted all my life.
With lots of support from my mother, my sister who had already had the surgery, and my therapist, I was able to get the sleeve.
And it changed my life!
I also decided that I was going to make up for lost time now that I was going to be able to physically get around again. I sold all my stuff, ditched my apartment, bought an RV and moved in! And it's wonderful! I could not have fit in here, nor could I do the things necessary when living in an RV, at my previous weight.
This surgery has allowed me an opportunity for a whole new lease on life. I am officially one year postop, and I am down about 130 pounds, with another 30 to go. It's amazing the difference a single year can make!
If you know that this is right for you, and the only thing giving you pause is fear that is not coming from your true intuition: there are many people on these forums who feel that this surgery has saved our lives.
I am one of those people. Here is a before and present a photo of me, in a year, this could be you!
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December 20th!!!
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December 20th here. Bricking it.
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So yep -- compared to many on here, I have next to no experience ... but just wanted to share observations from 2 weeks past surgery for others in my shoes -- or others that will be there soon.
1. I sure picked the easy way out of this! The answer to that is no. This process has completely changed my life, my thinking, my approach, each and every day and each an every hour. But in order to get control over this weight problem that is puling down so much else it needs to happen. I don't think I was aware of the level of change -- but it's significant -- and it's important.
2. Thank God I am not hungry anymore! I wish. I am. Not in the same gnawing going to eat a live animal hungry -- but it's still a part of me. But this tool call WLS is helping get control and manage through it. Besides -- at this point the thought of busting a stitch scares me, and I am sure consumption of a wild animal would cause problems.
3. Momma always said: You leave with the one who brung you. My surgeon and the entire team is pretty strict -- 4 weeks of liquid diet in advance (and I mean shakes only), two weeks moving to full liquids the second week after surgery. I see a lot of different instructions on the site -- and it is interesting -- but I am staying with what my team knows and wants. I figure their experience with this protocol is what works for them, so I'm sticking with it. After all, I selected them. There are different ways to do things in my profession -- and they still have good results -- it can be that was in the medical profession as well.
4. Weight is not dropping off me with every step I take. i just went for my two week post-op today and was down only three pounds since my weight on surgery day. Yes on the fluids. Yes on the Protein. But this is just the way it is. I know I will get there. Plus, I have lost 44 pounds since my journey began in late July, which isn't nuthin' ... today my BP was 107 over 71 ... blood sugar has been hovering around 92 -- there are lots of measures of success and indicators I am doing the work needed.
5. I value the information and feedback and openness and sometimes the raw emotions people express on this site. I use it for comfort, for context, for smiles and even sometimes to say "Are you flipping nuts to do that ...." ... internally anyway. Oh the righteousness of such incredible experience (did I mention two weeks out of surgery?).
I look forward to continuing the gather all I can from all of you -- most of whom are so much more expert than I ... and appreciate a forum to express my observations.

Thank you. You look amazing. Seeing you achieve this gives me hope xxx
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I had my gastric sleeve done January 11th. I weighed 333.1lbs.
I'm 10 months post op now and weigh 144.2lbs.
I've set new goal weights as I've gone along...first was just to get under 200lbs, then I thought I wanted my goal weight to be 180lbs. When I got there, I made the crazy goal of 150lbs never thinking I'd make it....but I did. So then I figured my goal would be 145lbs which puts me at a normal bmi...which I haven't been since I was around 10.
Now that I weight 144lbs, I've decided my final goal will 133lbs, which will mean I will have lost a total of 200lbs....and I'll do it, I know I can.
I never thought when I had surgery that weighing in the 130's would even be possible.
I've gone from wearing sizes 5-6x, and 28-30, now I wear smalls and mediums and am a size 8....I would be around a 6 if it wasn't for the large amount of skin I have around my stomach and thighs....but it's a price I'm more than happy to pay.
I've been extremely disciplined this whole 10 months. I can honestly say I've never put a bad food in my mouth...not once. I follow a very low carb diet still, drink about 85oz of Water every day and get in around 80oz of Protein. I take all my required Vitamins daily.
The gym has become a big part of my life. I workout around 5-6 days per week doing a variety of exercising....spin class, step  class, yoga, cardio machines....I like doing different things so I don't get bored.
Anyway, because I'm so close to goal, I just wanted to share this. And for the people who have a lot of weight to lose like I did....remember, you can do this! I'm living proof!!
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Hello everyone!
I've been a bigger person for most of my life and I've tried nearly every diet on the market. I was 450 lbs when I got married and my wife was roughly 350 lbs. She eventually had gastric sleeve surgery and we divorced so she could start "her whole new life".
I, on the other hand, fell into a deep depression, became a recluse, and my weight exploded up to 660 lbs as I was heartbroken and emotionally eating myself to death. I was in so much physical pain I couldn't stand for more than 5 minutes.
Finally 3 years ago I started doing a low carb/high Protein diet, and 5 minute walks which eventually increased to over an hour.
Now my weight is down to 446 lbs. I feel a LOT better but I been struggling to lose more weight as I have been stuck between 446 and 470 lbs for close to a year.
My doctor recommended weight loss surgery and I'm now scheduled to be sleeved on December 14. Yay!
I must say I'm really enjoying reading so many awesome inspirational stories of everyone's success. I know Post-Op life will be a challenge but I'm only moving forward, and never looking back.
Good luck to everyone!
Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

I have a gazillion food allergies (incl melons- just like you!) and also found out I was celiac through the VSG process.
It's so much easier to diet when you have fewer choices! Seriously. I am often the most irritating guest at a dinner party but it's all good because I wasn't going to eat more than a few bites of food anyway.
Your sense of humor will carry you through.

Funny!!!
Come visit my Bell's palsy thread, I'm in hospital and though it's nice to have help with this insane regiment of medications, solid food, liquids, Proteins, Vitamins (my husband smuggled them in!) and facial exercises. I am getting bored. The morphine pump is working.

It took me longer than I thought but I couldn't be more excited!! 2 months and 3 weeks post op and I've hit the ONEderland! Yayayayayya! Sorry just felt the need to shout it from the roof top. I've met many mini goals in the past couple months but this was my first large goal. Actually 3 large goals in one day! 50lbs down, 50 to go. I'm halfway to my ultimate goal and first time below 200 for about 5 years
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