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So 3 weeks ago, I threw my back out. I don't even have a fun story. I pulled my chair in to a table and my back said "nah, I'm going to stay here." Cue agonizing pain. The worst part was that I was on a 3rd story rooftop bar with my friend, 9 hours from home. I learned the bar didn't have a service elevator, so I had to take a few shots to get downstairs. I could barely stand up, I needed something to dull the pain! The 9 hour drive home wasn't much better either. Fun times! ANYWAYS. I've been going to the gym 2-3 times a week like clockwork. I'll do Zumba, yoga and/or step class usually. I have now been unable to go for the past 3 weeks. Once upon a time, I would have been thrilled for an excuse not to go. Now though? I'm getting antsy. I want to go get my heart rate up. I want to go relax while doing yoga. Relax? Exercise? What madness is this? I never thought I'd be that person that MISSES working out. Hell, I still barely am. But it became part of my routine and I am getting stir crazy being unable to unwind in a nice childs pose. Seriously though, who am I?

I think I FINALLY figured out what size I am. Then last week I went to the store and instead of 12,14,16,etc it was going "32,35,36,etc" MAKE UP YOUR MIND. I swear to god...guys get the easy measurements. Can we either switch over to that system or find a universal size where a size X is ALWAYS that size? Also, to your original point: I'm a size 12/14 right now (WHAAAT!?!) at 200. I was a size 14/16 all through high school when I weighed about 185. Weight loss is weird.

As many before me said, you won't know your new normal until you're a ways out. Your body is still healing and figuring itself out at this point. I'm almost 6 months out. My BMs are regular, but not THAT regular. You can't set a clock to them. I was kind of like that when I began though. I am super gurgly though. No matter how slowly or little I eat, my stomach wants to butt in on the conversation. "HI I'M HERE! GURGLEGURGEGURGLE" Yes stomach. No one asked you, but thank you for your input.

Your post made me laugh! I remember how excited I was when I was cleared for eggs! I made two eggs over medium and sat down eagerly to eat them. My husband looked at my teeny plate and serving and said "there's no way you'll be able to eat that!" Sure enough, I got most of the way through egg #1 in about 10 minutes and I was DONE. Stuffed. But because of my husband, I stubbornly kept trying. I sat there for another 30 minutes and managed to get about 4-5 more bites in (an egg and change over that entire time). I can now do 2 eggs with relative ease, but that initial meal was a doozy! I'm almost 6 months out and it still is hilarious how little I can eat.

Yesterday I went out in public in skinny jeans. Size 14 skinny jeans which were honestly a bit loose*. For context here, I am the person who, even in my 20's wore mom-jeans. Big and loose, size 18/20s with a waistband over my bellybutton. Truly sexy, I know. I have a stitchfix subscription and one of my notes on things I want/don't want is "NEVER SEND ME SKINNY JEANS - It is never going to happen." I feel like I'm having an identity crisis! I went from hiding everything to going out in jeans which are clinging tightly to me and making my butt look fantastic. I sent my husband a text when I went out yesterday that said: "I AM WEARING SKINNY JEANS IN PUBLIC WILLINGLY. I DON'T KNOW WHO I AM ANYMORE." His reply was "A skinny mini with self confidence. " Anyway, this is a big deal for me. My scale has been saying 200.00 for the past week, but my NSV seemed almost as wonderful as entering Onederland! *I bought them last week. I went in thinking "maybe a 16 will work" and 14 did. 14 might be loose but I didn't want to press my luck and ruin my happy mood!

I think a lot of the underlying relationship changes happen due to changes in self esteem. If you hated the body you were in, it's possible that you were in an unhappy relationship but didn't have the self confidence to leave it. When you lose the weight and feel better, you realize that settling and being miserable isn't the solution. Or you see that your partner isn't supportive and that is a major turn off and creates even bigger rifts in an unhealthy relationship. I think the same can be said for the opposite. If you have low self esteem and you're in a healthy relationship, losing weight can make everything even better. You have more physical interest in your partner, you feel supported by them and you're blown away by how they are there for you through the journey. As for friends...well, sometimes people are secretly terrible people who want everyone around them to be miserable too. In their defense though, haven't you ever seen someone successfully lose weight (or any other accomplishment), and get a little jealous? I hope I'm not alone there. You may be ecstatic for them, but at the same time, you may be thinking "that should have been me." To give these people the benefit of the doubt, maybe they blurted it out before they could censor themselves. Of course, if this happens more than once, the excuse falls apart!

I'm a few months post op and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it doesn't go away. The forced need to fart does (that's from surgery, as previously mentioned). However, your farts are now going to smell. Not just an "ew" smell, but an "oh god, I think something died up my colon, this smell can be bottled and used instead of pepper spray" smell. The good news is that you can hold your farts in, it isn't forcing its way out the way post-op farts do. The bad news is that I've had a few sleep toots since surgery that were so bad that my husband went to go sleep in the other room.

I'm about 5 months out and I've had 2 stalls now. One was about 4 weeks after surgery, one was the past 2 1/2 weeks. It finally broke though! Just keep following your diet and exercise regiment and you'll get through it!

When I had my surgery, I was great. No pain. No nausea. Able to hold food down, able to walk and move around without any problem. I haven't noticed any change in my sense of taste, and I can still eat almost anything without digestion issues. I asked my doctor about this and was told "everyone's body is different. You got lucky." I say the same to you. Everyone is different. You got lucky and haven't hit any road blocks yet. That's FANTASTIC! You're probably the exception, but everyone works differently, so be happy that things are going so smoothly. And let us be incredibly jealous of you.

Just be patient and keep practicing good eating and lifestyle habits. It'll end eventually, especially this early in your surgery. I'm about 3 months out now and have been stuck on the same 2lbs for the past 3 weeks. I think my stall finally ended this weekend though (fingers crossed)! As for planning to be under 200 on a certain date...it's great that you have a goal and I hope you get there. But if you don't, don't put too much value in it. It's just a number. You're going to get there, but your body might have plans for how long it takes!

I was thinking about you yesterday. YAY! Fingers crossed that all goes well.

I'm on the celebrate ADEKs. I have a dream of when they release good tasting flavors, or perhaps ones in a capsule. I eat the tropical flavor, though I just bought the clementine. Those are a little better. Not much, but any improvement is a step in the right direction. I'm 2 months out and had my first labs done. Everything looks fantastic. I have missed a few doses here and there, but my doctor told me as long as I'm getting most of my stuff regularly, I should be fine. This isn't to encourage you skipping, but just peace of mind. If you miss a day's dose it isn't the end of the world!

I replied to this thread already but I wanted to come in and update my answer. Before the surgery, only a few people knew. The person covering for me at work, my husband and my super close friends. I didn't even tell my parents. I had no intention of telling anyone else. This was for me and if anyone asked, I'd say I finally found something that worked. A week or so post-op, I had changed my mind. If anyone asked me I would tell them the truth, though I wouldn't volunteer it. Today is my 2-month surgiversary and I am just giving this information to anyone. Random waiter? "I had surgery, can I see the kid's menu please?" Coworkers asking if I'm okay from my medical leave? "I am! I had bariatric surgery!" My in laws and parents know. Random strangers know. I never thought I'd be the person to be like this. Weight has always been such a sensitive topic for me. Yet for some reason, I want people to know and I'm thrilled to share.

I am also curious what you chose to do Ladybug! I hope you postponed. It sounded like you had a lot of unresolved issues you should work on first, before having a major life altering surgery. The whole repetitive mantra of "this is a tool" thing is SO true. Just like having a hammer, this surgery only works if you use it. If you try to hang a picture with your fist and the hammer is sitting on the table next to you, it doesn't do a lot of good. If you have the surgery and aren't in a mental state where you can use the tool properly, it might work a little but it won't be a long term life change.

I kept my surgery a secret from my parents for reasons I won't bore you with. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that you guys did this together. Thank you for sharing the info!

I gave up soda ages before my surgery, so cutting it out wasn't a problem. I do enjoy occasionally having some though. I have resisted and haven't touched it, though I do admit I've had a small (less than a tsp) of my husband's Dr Pepper. I have swished it around in my mouth until the carbonation was totally gone and had it. A big old "eh." My tastes didn't seem to change at all, except now that stuff is totally unappealing. I'm going to miss beer though.

I still hate the flavor and texture, but I've at least gotten used to it. I'll chew it up into small chunks, avoiding my tongue and immediately chase it with water and a calcium chew to get as little of the flavor as possible. It's not ideal, but it works.

I travel a lot for work and food during conferences has always been my downfall. This is a great list of suggestions that I look forward to implementing.

I'm an NN cup. Honestly, I love my chest and I'm hoping I can lose everywhere else and keep at least the majority of what I have. I'm cool with looking like this!: >--8-o (turn your head sideways)

Hey folks, So I know we can do sugar free Popsicles on the liquid diet. What's the consensus on the sugar free Fudgsicle? It has 5g net carbs (versus SF Popsicles having 4g carbs). Just curious. I did a little googling and found mixed replies.

I was actually coming on to see if you had any updates. Woo! We can roam the halls in our flashy hospital gowns together. I am actually really excited to have a buddy in all of this. Congratulations on getting to the final stage. Is your final nutrition class also this Wednesday?

. I've done hundreds of hours of research on all of the different surgeries and what kind of commitment it'll be. I'm okay with vitamins for life and aware that this is the case.

@OutsideMatchInside - I love love LOVE how you phrased it like that. Suddenly all of my dumb fears are alleviated by you pretty much rephrasing the question . Thank you!

@bayougirlmrsc LOL - Thank you for sharing that! I was cackling at my desk!

Oh totally. I went to a surgeon. A surgeon is going to want to cut people open. A surgeon with a specialty is going to want to do his specialty. I've been doing a ton of research into the options though. I was totally against a DS when he brought it up at our initial appointment. Since then (around late November) I've educated myself on the topic as much as possible and DO feel this is the best option for me. He told me I could pick any of them but recommended the DS. I came to the decision on my own after extensive research though. I appreciate everyone's input in trying to talk me out of this selection, but I'm confident in which surgery I am picking. The question is if I should be doing ANY of this right now. But as OutsideMatch said, this is cold feet. You're totally right. It still is scary though!