shelleys goal

Rapid weight loss can cause amenorrhoea. It's normal. Unless you could be pregnant don't worry. Your body will adjust itself.
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I know estrogen is stored in fat and sometimes people have hormone dumps the first couple of months since they're losing weight so fast. Might be related to that. But if you're worried, call your doctor.

Be careful eating no carbs..I went to the Dr the other day and my ketones were at 3 plus. He was worried about me amd told me to eat a potato
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I chose bypass cause with the amount of weight I had to lose- I wanted the double effect of malabsorption and restriction. A large part of why I did not want VSG was because of the large possibility of reflux. It was never an issue for me before and I didn't want to come out Of surgery with new issues. I've lost 137# so far, zero complications . I'm happy with my choice.

@@jenrae1
My surgeon did not want me to stop coffee, as he was concerned about caffeine withdrawals.
So, I had coffee since 1st day post op, and never had any issues with it.
I drink it daily, have regular brewed coffee with Stevia and milk in the mornings, and from lunch time or early afternoon I switch to Decaf. Otherwise, full strength regular coffee would keep me awake at night.

Your post reminds me of why I don't want to keep a pair of my "fattest" pants. To me if someday I put both legs in one pant leg to show off my weight loss it would be like making fun of my former self. That's just my take on it. My fattest self was still deserving of respect and love.
I've endured many of those type of statements as all of you probably have in the past. I used to tell my father about how I'd lost 50 lbs. on a diet and he would always respond with, "well, you know what to do... (stop eating, of course.) I'd feel completely deflated. Like it was so easy to lose weight I must be really stupid, lazy, etc.
We have to accept that most people who have never been obese are ignorant of our plight. How our bodies fight to regain weight. How our brains are obsessed with food even while we would do anything just to stop overeating. It's a complicated problem that no one, doctors and scientists included, really understands.
As one who was bullied and tormented in school for being fat, I've never understood what was so funny about my obesity or why it brings out the worst in some people.
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I watched a YouTube video by a surgeon at a new Jersey clinic give post surgery eating advice..he said caffeine and coffee are fine bc coffee isn't carbonated. He did say to limit coffee intake. I've been drinking it and am still losing with no whacky cravings..
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I'm being honest..I couldn't follow the pre-op diet thoroughly. But since surgery, those cravings are gone. It's amazing!! Don't beat you self up too much.
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I watched a YouTube video by a surgeon at a new Jersey clinic give post surgery eating advice..he said caffeine and coffee are fine bc coffee isn't carbonated. He did say to limit coffee intake. I've been drinking it and am still losing with no whacky cravings..
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Afternoon all.
I wasn't quite sure where to put this post, but it seems here is the best place, as what I'm going to be talking about today is a huge part of the wls journey and I'm betting everyone here can either relate because they have experienced it, may experience it in the future, or can sympathize because, honestly, I don't know a single overweight person who has not had to deal with the pile of bullsh*t that I've been dealing with lately at some point in their lives.
Last night, I posted a new selfie to Facebook. I've been updating them right along because my face is still changing so much, and I really like being able to see my progress and to quietly share it with my friends and family. I guess this particular selfie made my weight loss especially noticeable, because I woke up this morning to a message from a "friend" on Facebook that essentially said "wow! I'm so happy to see you're getting so healthy! It's so bad that you let yourself get that fat though."
Upon reading this horribly cruel message, I was shocked, humiliated, and for a moment I felt myself blown right back to the place I was two years ago, a place I've worked tirelessly in therapy to climb out of: I felt that I was a worthless, hopeless human being who deserved to be treated this way. When people were cruel to me before, it devastated me because deep down, wayyyy deep down in the darkest and most painful parts of me, I agreed with the horrible things they said to and about me. I must be disgusting, gluttonous, lazy, pathetic, not even worthy of any kind of basic human kindness. After all, I led myself here, right? It's my fault that I'm super-morbidly-obese. I deserve this treatment.
Now, two years later, I more or less look like a normal person. I wear a size 12/14 jeans, a large or medium shirt. I've even gotten to the point where I can sometimes look in a mirror and think "hmm. I think I may feel beautiful today." But messages like the one I got today derail me in a fantastic way, and remind me of that raw, horrible feeling that I'm still struggling with every single day to overcome. His message was almost conspiratorial; like, oh, you're not fat anymore, so we can ridicule and shame your former self together. Like I would agree with him and say "OMG you're right! Fat Me was f*cking disgusting and pathetic. I totally agree with you." Like I was not a person before and now that I am "normal", I am. I hate it more than I can even begin to describe.
I hate that to many people, fat people not only deserve to be treated this way, but also need to be treated this way. There are whole (densely populated, I might add) forums scattered around the internet dedicated to posting pictures and videos of fat people for the sole purpose of shaming and hating them, and the excuse is to somehow motivate fat people into not being fat anymore. That's ludicrous, of course. The real reason is simple. It's pure hate, ignorance, and insecurity on their part. I know this. I believe this. But there is still a little part of me that feels nothing but shame and humiliation in situations like this. Will I always just be "Fat Abby" to the people around me? Am I ever going to escape her? And why should I even hate her in the first place? "Fat Abby" was incredibly sick with a severe hormone disorder, so poor I starved just as often as I gorged on cheap white Pasta and bread, and suicidally depressed. "Fat Abby" had no hope and so did the only logical thing in her mind: she tried to speed up the process of dying young by eating more. That doesn't sound like a lazy, gluttonous piece of crap to me. That sounds like a person who was suffering intensely, every moment of every day. I want to be kind and loving to that hurt former self, not look back and think "man, you were gross. Good thing you're skinny now!"
I've said it before and I'll say it again many times, I'm sure, but I love where I am now. I am so, SO happy that I've made it here, and grateful to everyone and everything the led me here, including my own strong self. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. But it's also important for me now to express these things here, to people who have or will experience them. Losing hundreds of pounds is a completely incredible feat! But it's just the tiny tip of the iceberg compared to the changes your life will go through after surgery. Do these experiences somehow negate my progress or my pride and joy? Absolutely not. They are just part of the story, and part of the journey.
I am not who I was. I will never be that person again. HOWEVER, being happy that I am not there anymore does not mean that I hate "Fat Abby", nor does it mean that I should be ashamed of her. Nor does it mean I deserve to be treated like an object that everyone gets to stare at and judge. Old Me, and I suspect all the Old Yous who are reading this, were just people who were doing the best they could and were suffering, and so we sought weight loss surgery to heal ourselves. We've done amazing things and changed in ways most other people have not even fathomed.
Remember the Old You without the hate and stigma attached to him/her, and the shame and pain that surrounded living as an obese person in a world that absolutely despises and dehumanizes obese people. Love the Old You just as much as you love the New You, and maybe someday you'll reach a point when you see the entire You with the kind of hope, love, and clarity that will keep you healthy and happy forever.
Attached is the selfie that started this. I love you all.
Cervidae

Are there any true veterans on here? I immediately went to the veterans forum here but the definition there is "6 months or more". In wls circles a veteran is typically defined as anyone 2 years out or more. So it makes me wonder I'd there are any log timers here at all?
Anyway, glad to find this forum. More than Willing to help any newbies, meet new friends :-)
I'm 7 years out of rny, teacher and Canadian.
Thanks for having me!
Dawn

I'm sitting on the patio at Starbucks enjoying a SFVanilla hot latte right now
My NUT said one cup a day is fine. That's why mine is a venti. Well. The one I'll have tonight will be a venti, as well lol.
But I follow my NUT plan and such to the "T", don't have GERD, and exercise. If I want my dang coffee, I'm having it.
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I watched a YouTube video by a surgeon at a new Jersey clinic give post surgery eating advice..he said caffeine and coffee are fine bc coffee isn't carbonated. He did say to limit coffee intake. I've been drinking it and am still losing with no whacky cravings..
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Be careful eating no carbs..I went to the Dr the other day and my ketones were at 3 plus. He was worried about me amd told me to eat a potato
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I'm being honest..I couldn't follow the pre-op diet thoroughly. But since surgery, those cravings are gone. It's amazing!! Don't beat you self up too much.
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It REALLY is hard. I've been working at it and doing way better than I ever expected and lost about 28 pounds.. But I wish I weren't dealing with cravings or hungry all the time.
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I'm being honest..I couldn't follow the pre-op diet thoroughly. But since surgery, those cravings are gone. It's amazing!! Don't beat you self up too much.
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Great question! I have to be honest and say that the first three months was a struggle for me. You completely break up with food, and once your able to move around more you feel great. I would definetly do it again if I had to. Actually, I wish I had done it years ago. As for things I can do now....what a difference. I feel great!! I've lost about 56lbs. I can now cross my legs, purchase clothes out of a regular store. My stamina has increased, no more pre-diabetic stage, no more high blood pressure medication. My skin is now glowing!! I go more places and participate in more activities because I'm no longer embarrassed by my weight. You will feel like a new person. And all of the things krakow57 mentioned above. This site is very supportive. I don't think I could have gotten through those first few months without the helpful advice of others on this site. Do it for yourself!!! You will be happy you did.
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If your friends are trying to rattle your confidence, tell them to shaake their rattler tails in another direction. You expect them to be encouraging and happy for you.
"I just keeping telling myself that I am going to do amazing. I have no choice!!..."
Why stomp on your own power? You most certainly do have a choice, which is what power rests on. In this instance you're choosing to do and be amazing. Get it? Surgery and losing weight are what you'll be doing; they aren't things that will be happening to you. No time for passivity.

Everyone has those fears. I was still nervous as I was being wheeled into the operating room. I feared that I was going to be the one it didn't work for. However here I am almost a year out from surgery and 155 pounds lighter and only 25 from goal. It was the best thing I have ever done for myself in my life.

I'm a little over a year out and I drink a premier Protein shake every day, sometimes cut with fairlife milk. I have very little appetite and in the morning I simply can't eat anything solid without feeling pretty sick. I'm perfectly healthy and doing just fine, but I know that I would not be getting enough nutrition without my daily shake.

Way to go!!!
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BEST MONEY I EVER SPENT !! I have dieted all of my life since puberty... ugh Now I no longer am always on a "diet" . I just live my life and food is no longer my master

I'm only 2 weeks out, so FWIW... the part of the stomach that is lost is responsible for a lot of the hormones that drive our cravings. I have zero appetite. I have to remind myself to eat and drink. It's a whole different world from what I had pre-surgery.