Brandeis

This is NOT normal!! Sorry to be scary/extreme, but please please call your doctor.

It really is a crazy thing to NOT be the fat one, anymore. I have been the fattest person I know for so long, and finally, I'm the same size as a friend of mine -- and it's such a weird feeling!! I never fully understood how girls just shared clothes before, but that's finally on the horizon.... It's a good feeling! Instead of obsessing over how that's not you now, look to the future. Also, no matter how fat you are, wear what you wanna wear baby!! I was still a size 18/20 on my cruise this year, but fuck it, I wore a torrid bikini anyway. Everyone else can deal!

4 months out...lost 55 pounds since surgery, and 80 since HW! first pic is august, second pic is last week~

I'm pretty against food funerals. I think they're bad for your mental health long term. The thing is, you'll be able to eat some of those things after surgery -- this isn't the death of food for you. It's just the death of eating massive amounts of those foods. Can you have a bite of your favorite burger, post surgery? Yes. So start thinking that way NOW. Have one bite of whatever it is you're craving, instead of the whole burger. Start learning to accept that your eating habits will be different, but you can still have good food. You'll be happier long term if you do, I think! But if you think all the time that you're depriving yourself, you won't be that happy at all...

A friend of mine came up to help me go through my closet and get rid of everything that was too ridiculously big....that was about a month and a half ago, and I already feel like I need to do it again. T_T

Nov 14; I lost 25 pounds pre-op, and since then I've lost 55 more for a total of 80 as of today! It's all been extremely stable for me; two pounds a month, until recently. I went on vacation and I guess I ate a lot of salt; weight just sat in the same place until I got home, and then all at once I lost 10 pounds (in 3 days!) which was probably shedding water weight due to lower sodium intake. <_<;

What kinds of foods are you eating? I find that certain foods make me feel like shit (chicken breast, for instance, is so dry it sticks in me something fiercely, for instance) but if you poke around a little you might find things that are easier..?

I was sleeved Nov 14, and since then I'm down 45 pounds! I've been pretty steadily losing 2 pounds a week. In total, down 70 pounds, since I lost 25 pre-op. I feel like I'm in a tiny bit of a stall now, but it's okay; I haven't been ~good~ this week since I was visiting friends...

The bad news is -- this is as a result of a period of malnutrition that's in the past. ): I've been told that if you have hair loss, there's little you can do to stop it, since it's from something that happened months before finally catching up to you. The good news is -- IT GROWS BACK!! It's temporary!!!! Buy a hat; my NUT promised that if I had hair loss, it'd come back again after, and was just a temporary thing. Since your body is missing certain nutrients, it shut down "unnecessary" functions to save up on them. But once you've stabilized again, it turns them back on...

Make sure you're walking around, too! A lot of the pain I had post surgery was actually gas pain -- and walking around made it so I burped and farted and felt soooooooooooo much better!!

It IS possible that weight loss can mess with your period -- make it late, or early, or come extra times. So this could just be that! But if you're worried, definitely go to a doctor.

I didn't actually tell many people until after I had my surgery -- but that's because I had a HUGE run-around with my insurance, and I was feeling EXTREMELY superstitious that it would end up not happening. T___T But as soon as it was done, I told my mom she could tell some of the more gossip-y family members and it got around to everyone. And the first day of purees I actually went out to dinner with a big ole group of my friends and they were like uhhh why can't you eat? so that came out. Generally, they've all been really awesome! There are a few who seemed a bit confused by it, but as of now I've lost almost 70 pounds [25 pre-op] and so it's really hard for them to be anything BUT excited for me, I think!

My surgeon and nutritionist are both super against setting a goal, especially my NUT. She thinks that it puts unwanted pressure and too much focus on a number; she also says not to weigh myself but...well....................who can help it ???? I understand her feelings, though. So much focus on the number can make you miss out on the other victories: the vanishing of the knee dimple, being able to walk for 3 miles while everyone around you wears out earlier, being able to sit on an airplane, buying that bikini....

you're looking great, btw!! congrats!!!!

My NUT was avidly against them, and after reading some studies about them...well, the implication was that they are BS. I really WANT them to be real, but every study I've read implies that vitamins simply aren't absorbed transdermally. >__<

I don't know, but I tell EVERYONE about my surgery. I told family. Friends. Coworkers. I tell literal strangers on the street about my surgery, if weight loss or exercise comes up in conversation. I obviously am not ashamed of it, or my need for it, and I think it's really important to tell people about it so it's something heard about in regular conversation -- so that it becomes normalized, and not stigmatized.

I'm 3 months post op, and it's still this bad for me >_< I wake up at the night with my tongue literally glued to the roof of my mouth, and I have to carefully wiggle it free. I don't think it's from lack of water, I think it MIGHT be due to ketosis, if you're in that? I have no idea, though. I should ask at next month's support meeting...

I think it's a bad idea just from a psychological PoV. It's like saying to yourself "I'm never going to be happy again, so I better get all the happy I can right now!" Realistically, though, you'll be happier post surgery. And, even without eating all that crap, you'll feel satisfied and fine. Maybe now and then you'll eat one small piece of chocolate -- and that'll be ENOUGH, you won't need to go through an entire box of oreos anymore. I think it's better to start preparing your mind for that, instead of focusing on devouring what you think you can't have later.

Everyone's pre-op diet is different. By the time I started my pre-op, I'd lost 20 pounds just from NUT meetings. So my liver had already shrunk so much, it was only a week long, and I was allowed one lean meal a day, in addition to my 2x Protein shakes. I didn't find this difficult at ALL. The trick is really just to make sure your liver has shrunk enough that they can work around it. So, I mean, do you want to risk it?

A pound or two a week is honestly pretty great; I don't think that's off from 'normal' at all. I was sleeved 11/14, and that's about what I do as well~ I'd say I lose maybe 10 pounds a month? Which isn't bad AT ALL...

I had no problem with bras post op, tbh. All my incisions were much lower than where my bra hit... I have dropped a cup size, though, since surgery~

I stopped drinking soda after my first NUT meeting, cold turkey. I switched to crystal light raspberry; keep it in my purse, and make it at home, and honestly it has 100% replaced soda for me easily~

I had the same experience -- first period was super early, while I was still on liquid diet. The second one, I didn't lose any weight at all for about 2 weeks around it, and I dunno if it was because of stall or due to period, or some horrible mix of both. Just remember that Water weight is just water weight, and once you're done with your ladytimes you should just pee it out! And make sure to get enough liquids. If you're super concerned about it, cut down on salt for a little bit to see if that helps, too~

I agree wholeheartedly with jwinters above! I'm not finding it that difficult, post surgery -- because I find the surgery does do a lot of that work for me. I can't eat a lot. I feel full faster. I don't get hungry as soon (or, sometimes, at all, and let me tell you THAT never happened to me pre-sleeve). I now understand how someone could skip a meal, and I have to work to keep on top of it and NOT skip my meals. It varies person to person, though. She should try to find a program that has a good pre-op program as well as just straight up surgery. Mine was amazing, including an overall meeting you had to attend that gave you all kinds of general info, and then support groups open to anyone even pre-op, so you can learn about what it means for your life. Something like this might be helpful for her to figure out if she can do it.

I measure my food, but mostly just to make sure I don't over serve myself -- overeating isn't a problem, but I hate wasting food, so I make sure to weigh what I'm going to eat so there's not a ton leftover on the plate! I know very well I can only eat 4-5oz [closer to 4] in any given sitting, so I just measure that out. My NUT actively discourages me from tracking my food, though. Instead, she wants me just to focus on eating the right kinds of things, and taking care with what I eat, than writing down every little thing. I appreciate it. The obsession really gets under my skin and drives me crazy, when I'm tracking all the food I eat. Also, I frequently find it makes me eat MORE; "oh, I only consumed ____ calories today! I could still eat _____ more!" If you think it's something that's going to work for you, you should definitely do it, though! I used to do My Fitness Pal, in previous weight loss attempts, and I liked it a lot.