Pam_2-06-2017

Carbs and sugar, especially breads and fried foods do not satisfy you nutritionally. Your hunger is your body saying "Feed me nutrition!" :-). Whether we are sleeved or not those foods cause additional hunger. Think about time you were first sleeved and how devoted to doing it right you were. Whether you feel you've "stretched" your sleeve or not you still have restrictiveness. Take advantage of your restriction and feed it good stuff. Remember? Protein, veggies and if you have room then a few carbs. Back to basics[emoji173]. You still have the tool. You still have 80% of your tummy gone and the nasty grelin hormone producers aren't there. When your hungry think of it as you body crying out for something clean and healthy. You can do this. You've done it before.

Use this support board to come to when you just don't feel you can do it.

Take care

7 months post op and down 48 pounds. I see others lose much more. So many factors that influence rate of loss. I learned I'm a much slower loser but I'm also not a fanatic to every morsel I eat. I started out a fanatic when I was healing. Now I am losing at a much slower rate but still going down. I had 80 pounds to lose and am more than halfway there. 32 pounds don't seem so far away now but at the beginning it seemed like a lot. My next check up at a year out is in February. My doctor has a goal of 11 pounds from now until then. That almost seems like a drop in the bucket and I will surely meet that.
This is not a marathon but a long slow sprint. Your body, skin and future success depend on it.

Today, I was allowed, for the first time since surgery, to have coffee. Mmmmm...coffee. Okay, so it wasn't my normal large caramel latte with whipped cream and caramel drizzle. It was medium regular coffee, unsweetened caramel shot, skim milk, and 2 Splendas. Still, it was heaven. I finished every drop! The surgery was bad enough, but the lack of coffee was pure unadulterated torture. LOL
Have a great day!!!

You look amazing!

Did your dependency begin after surgery? To have established addiction to alcohol and pain killers after surgery is pretty radical. Have you talked to a therapist about your concern? Aside from the affects of these behaviors on your tummy, the repercussions to your quality of life are huge. Sharing on this board will get you opinions but your addiction is way bigger than an online support group. Please work hard to get personal help. My daughter is a meth addict that has been clean for over a year. I could do nothing to help her. She had to do all the work to help herself.

Thinking of you.

Take care

IDK why it is that everyone (including me) want to lose faster? Since I started this journey I feel like I should have lost more. Then I look at all my previous attempts and realize that I could never have lost this much weight and felt so confident that I can keep it off...never. I have learned that I am a slow but steady loser. This no longer bothers me because I have gotten small enough that I feel good, can exercise comfortably and can enjoy so many things I couldn't before. I'm in it for the long haul and the 40 pounds I have left to lose will come off. How can it not with great restriction and good eating?
At 5'4" I get about 1,000 cals a day although I don't really track calories. I track Protein (60-100) and carbs (25-50). As tall as you are and being male you should be getting more. Your body will hold on as long as it can when it is starving. Up your eating and I bet it comes off faster.
Enjoy the marathon...I've learned I don't sprint very well:-)
take care

Just struggled with this yesterday. I thought I was gonna hurt myself:-/. I had surgery on the 6th.

I used a glycerin suppository and drank two cups of smooth moves tea. It finally worked.

Between anesthesia, Protein and inactivity during recovery it's inevitable Constipation happens.

Good luck

I totally get longing for weight loss to be faster. I'm a slow loser so at 6 months post op I'm down 47 pounds. The first 30 came off the first 6 weeks. As long as the scale is going in the right direction I feel good about it. I haven't gained at all but I have had numerous and lengthy stalls.
I try to get 60-100g of Protein and 25-50 carbs a day. I keep most days at 25 carbs but a couple days I may go over so I gave myself a range. I still drink one Protein Shake a day because I have great restriction and can not eat much.
Sample meal:
Breakfast
One egg
1 piece whole grain toast - I grind my wheat and make my bread to it's pretty clean and really my only major carb for the day.
sometimes a small piece of fruit or berries
coffee (Instead of Creamer I use caramel flavored Premier Protein shake)
snack
Love me a tablespoon of Almond Butter right from the jar or Cheesestick wrapped in ham
lunch
Salmon salad on a lettuce leaf (I live in Alaska so this is abundant) but canned from the store would work great too.
or
Grilled chicken breast cut in strips with a bit of ceasar dressing rolled up in a lettuce leaf
Snack
Protein shake, handful of almonds, or Pork rinds with hummus (gross I know but I love it!!)
dinner
I cook for my family and eat a small portion of whatever they are having except I will serve myself by picking around major carbs. So meat, veggie and starch... (Example: Pork Chop, Green Beans and Rice). I'll eat the pork chop and green beans but skip on the rice
Evening snack
If I've gotten all my protein I'll have three tablespoons of ice cream, if not, I'll have a greek yogurt

IDK why it is that everyone (including me) want to lose faster? Since I started this journey I feel like I should have lost more. Then I look at all my previous attempts and realize that I could never have lost this much weight and felt so confident that I can keep it off...never. I have learned that I am a slow but steady loser. This no longer bothers me because I have gotten small enough that I feel good, can exercise comfortably and can enjoy so many things I couldn't before. I'm in it for the long haul and the 40 pounds I have left to lose will come off. How can it not with great restriction and good eating?
At 5'4" I get about 1,000 cals a day although I don't really track calories. I track Protein (60-100) and carbs (25-50). As tall as you are and being male you should be getting more. Your body will hold on as long as it can when it is starving. Up your eating and I bet it comes off faster.
Enjoy the marathon...I've learned I don't sprint very well:-)
take care

Creamy Soups were awesome for me during purée phase. I know carbs and all but sometimes you just gotta mix it up.

I made tuna salad with tuna a little mayo and dill pickle relish...that was very satisfying.

I had Miso Soup. Grab a packet of miso soup spice mix, beef broth and soft tofu. Good Protein with fluids and oh so yummy. Drop some egg in for extra protein.

Boil the heck out of a chicken breast. Put fresh onion, a little cabbage, cilantro, pepper, celery salt, and a touch of cumin. Cook it until the chicken falls apart it's so soft. Remove the chicken, blend the juice and then put the chicken back in. It will knock your socks off. Like a yummy Mexican caldo.

Take care

7/17/2017 - 172.5 and that's my final answer:-) Thank you for another great challenge!!!

Why is it that mom's feel guilty if we're even thinking about doing something for ourselves? I have officially gotten over that:-). I am the shopper in my home so what comes in is all up to me. If junk gets through my door it better be eaten quick or it will disappear. Honestly!
I am nearly 5 months post op so I'm still pretty honeymoon about it. But at this point my family likes the person I've become so appealing to them for understanding is pretty easy. I guess they are also in the honeymoon stage:-/
i still allow some things as my teen-aged son and husband with ravenous appetites and no weight problems need calories. So I practice resisting. I have introduced a few things back into my home and intentionally resisted. I don't beat myself up about it. Things I'm proud to resist are ice cream, crackers, tortilla chips... that doesn't mean I don't eat it. I resist it. Example: if I think about the ice cream in the fridge I resist. But when my son has a bowl I ask him to serve me a bowl with three tablespoons and savor every spoonful and log it in my journal. I want to build a healthy relationship with food.
At two years out nobody has to tell you how to eat or how to get over your addiction. You know the plan. You have to find that mojo within yourself that moved you in the direction of WLS. Food addiction sucks but you have a great tool to help you get it under control.
Take care

Love this perspective and have never heard it quite like this.

Many on here talk of head hunger. At 6 months out I've gotten much of my head hunger under control. I always feed my head hunger but I feed it on plan. If I am no longer hungry, it was real. If it did not satisfy my hunger I would recognize it for what it was and power through using distraction (exercise or other activity). Log it, count it and move on. This is helping me learn what true hunger is...feeding my body nutrients.

If you're a food addict you MUST start building a repertoire of solutions to get through these tough moments.

Thesaliva thing happens to me if i eat one tea spoon to much its so gross.

There are different degree's of dumping. I would say that was your bodys way of saying what you are did not agree with your sleeve... Perhaps also the gas from the Beans? I know I have had situations like that where I just had a lot of siliva coming from my mouth. Almost like you're going to vomit, but never actually do vomit...it goes away pretty fast. The stomach ache, head ache, need to lie down feeling is definitely the dumping portion of that. I usually need to try and relax as much as possible and lay down as well till it passes... usually takes 20-45 minutes. I hope you're okay, good luck with that in the future.

8/11/2017 = 175.4.... No way I gained 3 pounds damn PMS!!!!

Creamy Soups were awesome for me during purée phase. I know carbs and all but sometimes you just gotta mix it up.

I made tuna salad with tuna a little mayo and dill pickle relish...that was very satisfying.

I had Miso Soup. Grab a packet of miso soup spice mix, beef broth and soft tofu. Good Protein with fluids and oh so yummy. Drop some egg in for extra protein.

Boil the heck out of a chicken breast. Put fresh onion, a little cabbage, cilantro, pepper, celery salt, and a touch of cumin. Cook it until the chicken falls apart it's so soft. Remove the chicken, blend the juice and then put the chicken back in. It will knock your socks off. Like a yummy Mexican caldo.

Take care

It really is difficult to stretch it much depending on how your surgeon did the procedure. As you heal and the swelling continues to go down you will be able to eat a bit more so it may feel like it's been stretched. At this point you should still be measuring your intake and taking it easy on portions. The surgery cuts into some pretty serious nerves making it hard to determine full sensation for awhile. This is another good reason to measure your food. When you know that 5 ounces makes you sick then make sure you only measure 4 for a while.
Throwing up is a sure sign that you are eating too much or too fast.
Good luck

I'm 2 months out and have lost 32 pounds, I know that it has lots to do with how much weight you have to lose. My SW is 220 and I've been sticking to plan. Dr says I'm right on track.

If I dropped 60 in 2 months I'd be over the moon happy! Congratulations!

Why is it that mom's feel guilty if we're even thinking about doing something for ourselves? I have officially gotten over that:-). I am the shopper in my home so what comes in is all up to me. If junk gets through my door it better be eaten quick or it will disappear. Honestly!
I am nearly 5 months post op so I'm still pretty honeymoon about it. But at this point my family likes the person I've become so appealing to them for understanding is pretty easy. I guess they are also in the honeymoon stage:-/
i still allow some things as my teen-aged son and husband with ravenous appetites and no weight problems need calories. So I practice resisting. I have introduced a few things back into my home and intentionally resisted. I don't beat myself up about it. Things I'm proud to resist are ice cream, crackers, tortilla chips... that doesn't mean I don't eat it. I resist it. Example: if I think about the ice cream in the fridge I resist. But when my son has a bowl I ask him to serve me a bowl with three tablespoons and savor every spoonful and log it in my journal. I want to build a healthy relationship with food.
At two years out nobody has to tell you how to eat or how to get over your addiction. You know the plan. You have to find that mojo within yourself that moved you in the direction of WLS. Food addiction sucks but you have a great tool to help you get it under control.
Take care

I totally get longing for weight loss to be faster. I'm a slow loser so at 6 months post op I'm down 47 pounds. The first 30 came off the first 6 weeks. As long as the scale is going in the right direction I feel good about it. I haven't gained at all but I have had numerous and lengthy stalls.
I try to get 60-100g of Protein and 25-50 carbs a day. I keep most days at 25 carbs but a couple days I may go over so I gave myself a range. I still drink one Protein Shake a day because I have great restriction and can not eat much.
Sample meal:
Breakfast
One egg
1 piece whole grain toast - I grind my wheat and make my bread to it's pretty clean and really my only major carb for the day.
sometimes a small piece of fruit or berries
coffee (Instead of Creamer I use caramel flavored Premier Protein shake)
snack
Love me a tablespoon of Almond Butter right from the jar or Cheesestick wrapped in ham
lunch
Salmon salad on a lettuce leaf (I live in Alaska so this is abundant) but canned from the store would work great too.
or
Grilled chicken breast cut in strips with a bit of ceasar dressing rolled up in a lettuce leaf
Snack
Protein shake, handful of almonds, or Pork rinds with hummus (gross I know but I love it!!)
dinner
I cook for my family and eat a small portion of whatever they are having except I will serve myself by picking around major carbs. So meat, veggie and starch... (Example: Pork Chop, Green Beans and Rice). I'll eat the pork chop and green beans but skip on the rice
Evening snack
If I've gotten all my protein I'll have three tablespoons of ice cream, if not, I'll have a greek yogurt

Love this perspective and have never heard it quite like this.

Many on here talk of head hunger. At 6 months out I've gotten much of my head hunger under control. I always feed my head hunger but I feed it on plan. If I am no longer hungry, it was real. If it did not satisfy my hunger I would recognize it for what it was and power through using distraction (exercise or other activity). Log it, count it and move on. This is helping me learn what true hunger is...feeding my body nutrients.

If you're a food addict you MUST start building a repertoire of solutions to get through these tough moments.

Love this perspective and have never heard it quite like this.

Many on here talk of head hunger. At 6 months out I've gotten much of my head hunger under control. I always feed my head hunger but I feed it on plan. If I am no longer hungry, it was real. If it did not satisfy my hunger I would recognize it for what it was and power through using distraction (exercise or other activity). Log it, count it and move on. This is helping me learn what true hunger is...feeding my body nutrients.

If you're a food addict you MUST start building a repertoire of solutions to get through these tough moments.

Absolutely hormones can cause so many changes in the body. After any surgery a woman's hormones go wack! A couple days late is normal. I've heard of some starting early as well. Surgery sent me into full blown peri-menopause and I went from being able to set a clock to my cycle to only have two periods this year.
If it continues to hold off you can certainly call your doctors office and get reassurance.
take care

Love this perspective and have never heard it quite like this.

Many on here talk of head hunger. At 6 months out I've gotten much of my head hunger under control. I always feed my head hunger but I feed it on plan. If I am no longer hungry, it was real. If it did not satisfy my hunger I would recognize it for what it was and power through using distraction (exercise or other activity). Log it, count it and move on. This is helping me learn what true hunger is...feeding my body nutrients.

If you're a food addict you MUST start building a repertoire of solutions to get through these tough moments.