teacupnosaucer

Yep, my anxiety ramped up pretty hardcore in the weeks coming up to surgery. Seems logical to me because it is a serious operation and an irreversible life change basically! I kept busy the night before surgery, and the morning of, I requested an ativan to get me through. walked into the OR as cheerful as walking into a damn theme park LOL.

Hi! I'm 31, HW 227lbs at 5'3", surgery weight was 196, so a BMI of 35-36. I'm two months post op now and freakin' loving life! oh and I'm a teacher turned SAHM too!

this is a GREAT idea! I found it really helped me too. sometimes we get hung up on the things surgery forces us to "give up" (I almost didn't have my surgery because I thought I couldn't give up diet pepsi!)... but it's true we have so much to GAIN!!! yes I can likely never have pepsi again... but without this surgery, I'd have never worn a size 12 pair of shorts again, or played soccer again... or or or. keep this list handy! tape it to your mirror, put it on your fridge... it will help you get through the harder days.

Be honest. I was scared too because I have a lot of mental health issues... but it turned out fine. The psychologist wanted to know that I 1. Was honest with myself about my limitations, my successes, and what I needed to work on pre- and post- surgery. 2. That I had a realistic attitude toward surgery and what it could and couldn't do for me. 3. That I understood what I was getting into wrt permanent lifestyle changes and potential for side effects etc. 4. That I was doing my best to fix whatever problems I had and was in treatment for my various disorders. Having depression and anxiety and ADHD wasn't a dealbreaker, it was if I wasn't treating them to the best of my ability that might have posed problems for my long term success. Hard to stick to a long term, complex diet plan if your ADHD has you unable to focus or organize squat. Lying might jump you through the hoops faster, no question about that, but it also means that you might be shooting yourself in the foot. Think of it this way: just GETTING surgery is not the ultimate goal.. having a successful lifetime POST surgery is. The surgery won't mean **** for you if a month later you're binge eating or abusing alcohol or eating fast food six times a week or, or, or, which is essentially what the psychologist is trying to screen for. Wanting to be prepared is understandable, though, so here's what I did. Since I knew I'd probably forget half of what I wanted to say, I made a series of lists before my appointment that I could refer to or show the psychologist: 1. my successes so far with regards to lifestyle changes (not eating in front of screens, limiting eating out) 2. things I thought I still needed to work on (get better at meal planning) 3. what I was hoping to get out of surgery (opportunity to be more active, avoid type 2 diabetes) Not only did it give me guidance on what I wanted to say to her and not forget important things, it also showed that I was already engaging in goal setting, self-reflection, and that I was the kind of person to plan and prepare. I think it DEFINITELY helped my case. she was very impressed by how organized I was and how much work I'd done already.

I think your nutritionist is misinterpreting the data. It's not that the bypass is NECESSARILY more effective long term, only that we have more EVIDENCE of it being effective long term. The sleeve as an individual operation is a relatively new procedure, so we just don't have as much long term data either way vs the RNY. But the info we do have is very promising. I've done a lot of reading and from my (layman's) understanding, the bypass will help you lose weight faster (6mo to a year) vs the sleeve where you typically lose slowly over a period of 18 months. The typical difference between loss I think is often 10% of your weight ON AVERAGE, which may or may not be a big deal to you. (It wasn't to me, which is why I went with the sleeve.) Regain typically comes down to compliancy post-op more than what procedure you get. The average losses comes from the people who lose 150 lbs and completely overhaul their life and the people who eat around their surgery and lose less than ten or go on to gain past their original weight, so honestly I really didn't take it much into account when I was picking my procedure. I was much more concerned about the life I'd be living post op with both procedures and about my individual comfort level with the concept of the procedures themselves. Sleeve fit my vision for my future, so that's what I chose even though my surgeon was more in favour of the RNY as the "gold standard". It is true the RNY is more invasive and also produces more restriction both in terms of volume of food AND type of foods you can eat. A lot of the things I can very easily eat post-op with my sleeve could make your average RNY patient very sick. some people see this as a pro to the RNY, others a con. There are good reasons to pick either procedure, and sticking to the plan long term will bring success with EITHER procedure. After that it comes down to other factors: if you have GERD, if you have type 2 diabetes, how much weight you have to lose, how comfortable you are with malabsorption of nutrients, the speed you want the weight loss to be, whether you'd prefer the proven track record of the RNY, whether you want the ability to revise down the line, etc. There's a lot to consider here, so definitely stick around and do some reading, but don't let the nutritionist tell you that you HAVE to get the RNY just because "after 5 years the sleeve stops working" and accept that as gospel or use it as the only deciding factor in your choice. Any surgery can result in weight regain, just as any surgery can result in stunning lifelong success. The specific surgery itself isn't nearly so important as the lifestyle changes you implement alongside your chosen procedure.

Hi! I had a BMI of 40 at my highest weight, but managed to get down to a BMI of 36 pre-surgery. Had my sleeve on March 22nd and am now down a further 25lbs. Nearly out of the obese BMI category all together! woohoo!

It's not a sure thing. I had a sleeve and DO get hungry. Sometimes it's fake hunger with excess acid when I forget to take my pantoloc, yes, but then there are times when I'm 3 hours past my last time eating and I am genuinely HUNGRY. there's also head hunger when I see a commercial for a cheeseburger and it's all I can think about. But am I LESS hungry than before? yes absolutely. there are days I don't think about eating at all. and even if I do get hungry, my hunger is satisfied with less food. Ultimately the sleeve is only a tool. You will always have to exercise your will power and good sense about when and how you eat.

I pack myself a Japanese bento box (aka a SMALL bento, not the oversized ones they sell here) full of snacks every day. In one compartment I will have a measured single portion of either nuts, seeds, parmesan cheese crisps, or jerky, and then in the second compartment I have a cheese portion and some whole grain crackers, or a cheese portion and some berries/apple slices, or dried coconut. (Unlike many here, my dietician is 100% against me eating low carb LOL). I have to have measured portions of whatever I eat, pretty much. I definitely couldn't have like, my costco sized tub of nuts sitting in my desk. I need to get out the scale and measure into my bento box every day. Protein bars I typically use for meal replacements vs. as snacks since at 200+ calories a bar they are outside my guidelines for an appropriate "snack" serving, which is 150 calories for me. cutting them in half would probably work though I suppose!

You're 100% right. Good for you for keeping that perspective. I'm the same way... I keep being really positive and happy about my surgery in the hopes my father will come to the idea of looking into it himself... but on his own terms and as his own idea LOL.

my sympathies, my mom deals with this same thing. she works really hard to stay healthy but my dad (who is obese like me) just keeps buying sooooo muuuuuuch junk food. I'm glad they're at least attempting to meet you halfway, even if they're not willing to stop bringing it into the house 100%. Hopefully some other strategies will help you so that having it around isn't quite such a landmine for you.

I'm six weeks out and have not vomited even once, not even when I ate things I really shouldn't have. Which is good because I have emetophobia and get a panic attack every time I puke lmao. It's luck of the draw, from what I understand.

It's definitely not easy, I totally get you. I have two kids and a husband so I know how you feel not wanting to police what they eat. I try to buy things for them that I know I won't eat. My husband loves strawberry ice cream, I hate it, so it's pretty easy to have ice cream on hand for him. The other thing to consider is (depending on your living situation obviously!) is that just because you don't have something in the house and on hand doesn't mean you're controlling if other people eat it. We don't have pop in the house but my husband is still free to go to McDonalds and buy himself a large coke. I'm not controlling what he eats, only what's in my immediate environment. Obviously this strategy is significantly less useful if you live with adult roommates who buy their own groceries or with someone not willing to compromise the food they bring into the house to help you achieve your goals. But don't assume it won't work prematurely, I guess? Like, if you ask someone might be completely on board and say yes, even if you think they won't. They might surprise you. (They also might not, in which case obviously it's much harder to control your food environment.) Head hunger vs. physiological hunger is hard to decipher. I try to do to myself what I do with my kids. "You're hungry? Do you want an apple? If you're not hungry for an apple you're not really hungry." (Substitute whatever healthy choice you like.) Basically, physiological hunger wants to be fed. Head/heart/mouth hunger are very very specific. Like if I'm thinking "oh I could go for some chips" but I eat some beef jerky and feel satisfied, then that's probably stomach hunger. If I'm thinking "I want chips and I don't want to eat anything else IT HAS TO BE CHIPS"... then to me that is a sure sign it's not physical hunger. The other thing I learned in my emotional eating class is to delay cravings, like physically set a timer for 20 minutes. Make a deal with yourself that if you still want something after 20 minutes, then eat it (within reason obviously) but if you don't... well then, crisis averted lol. Waiting 20 minutes to eat won't alleviate physiological hunger, but delaying a craving may cause the intensity of it to subside, in which case you have your answer. I should find out what the workbook I used is called, maybe you can get it on Amazon or something... it was really helpful to me.

I have a glass of high protein skim milk in place of one of my glasses of water. Bumps me up a hundred calories.

At 5 weeks I was feeling like my old self again... but I had pretty much a picture perfect recovery. Give yourself time, you'll get there!

I felt pretty much the same as you three weeks out. By 4 weeks I was MUCH better and at 5 weeks I was pretty much completely myself again, so just keep that in mind. You're very likely almost through the weeds. I'm a side sleeper and had a hard time with that too. I found sleeping with a pillow between my legs and hugged to my belly allowed me to sleep on my side more comfortably. You could also get one of those crazy pregnancy body pillows to snuggle with as well. I'd say you're right on your suspicions about low energy. You just had surgery AND you're really not eating a whole lot to nourish you and give you energy. You will feel better in time, so just keep on keeping on.

This experience is night and day with mine. I met with my clinic's psychologist twice. One time she had be do a couple of mental health questionairres (screening me for depression, anxiety, and adhd), talked to me about my lifestyle and changes I was making and how prepared I felt for surgery, then gave me suggestions to work on and saw me three months later to see if I had progressed and was compliant with her suggestions. I was, so she signed me off for surgery. Now I have a standing offer to call her if I ever need post surgical emotional support for anything.

It's hard to give you advice with no understanding of your background and what your goals are. Do you have a BMI over 40? Have you yo-yo dieted all your life and are only getting heavier? Or do you struggle and struggle and do everything right but never lose anything? Do you have weight-related comorbidities or family history of the same? Have you made lots of healthy lifestyle changes already and want your body's weight "set point" to reflect that and to prevent regain? Then surgery may be a good option for you. Stick around and read up. Are you hoping for surgery to make you feel better about your appearance and have better self-esteem? Fix your marriage? "Force" you not to cheat on your diet? Make you lose weight without watching what you eat or maintaining an exercise routine? (AKA have Fast Effortless Weight Loss?) Are you looking to lose thirty pounds in a month? Do you have uncontrolled binge eating disorder that you think this surgery will cure? Are you only slightly overweight but just hoping to lose 20 lbs off your belly and thighs, or to fit into a size 4 instead of a size 8? Then I'd do more research and re-evaluate your expectations and understanding of the procedure and what it can or can't do for you before proceeding.

I use the smaller salad plate from my dish set vs. the full sized dinner plate and that seems to work just fine. For snacks/lunches I use a Japanese bento set since they are quite small in the first place. I am currently working on getting into the habit of weighing and measuring my food as well. I use a small inexpensive kitchen scale.

Yep I've eaten watermelon without issues. Someone with an RNY might have trouble with the sugar content though, so that's worth considering. Fit it into your diet plan (aka don't be filling up on it on days you're way below your protein goals etc), measure your portion, and enjoy. I should add: IF you have your nutritionist's okay. If you're only cleared for full liquids, or you're only cleared for a certain amount of sugar in a day and watermelon doesn't fit into that... well then, totally different story!

I've heard of PLENTY of post-sleevers drinking post op. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure I will because like you I do enjoy a drink socially. Looking forward to my first cider this summer! Caveats: 1. Wait awhile post surgery. I really doubt booze is good for post-op healing. Surgeons typically have guidelines on that one, which vary, so just follow their advice at the very least LOL. 2. Drink at home your first time because your tolerance may be completely different and lbr, if you're gonna get sloppy drunk off of one wine cooler it's probably best to do it at home. 3. Most post ops have a policy of never driving after drinking, not even after one. Not worth the risk. 4. Go slow and stick to lower alcohol options until you feel out your new alcohol tolerance. 5. Alcohol is liquid calories. You can sabotage your weight loss just as well with beer as with milkshakes... so keep that in mind. 6. Watch out for signs of alcoholism. It's a common transfer addiction among post bariatric surgery patients. 7. Continue to enjoy responsibly!

I tried new foods, sure, but I definitely didn't FORCE myself to eat anything! Sorry but you couldn't PAY me to start eating mushrooms now post surgery, even if you told me they had 100 grams of protein a serving But sure, try new things and re-try things you didn't necessary like before. Why not? And be sure to try them prepared different ways. I grew up with nasty boiled slimy brussel sprouts... but hey, you roast those mothers in the oven and they taste heavenly!

You can also scroll all the way down whatever page you're on on the forum and on the right side under the magazine articles there is the "TOGETHER WE HAVE LOST" counter with a handy spot to update your current weight if that's all you want to do.

and if it's HUNGER vs "cravings", aka you just need more calories and nutrition, by all means let yourself eat! have an extra meal or healthy snack like @OutsideMatchInsidesaid. There's nothing wrong with eating your 2oz of chicken, finding yourself hungry, so having 2oz of tuna a couple hours later. you just have to understand the difference between period cravings like I have (only junk food will satisfy them, they're for particular unhealthy items) vs. just needing some extra nutrition that day. it is okay to nourish yourself!

Yep, my period throws me for a loop every month, even post-surgery. 1. Knowing it's coming helps a lot because I can say "this is just your period" and reason myself out of it sometimes. Not all the time, but sometimes LOL. 2. Plan to satisfy cravings in a way that's still friendly to your post op diet. I like that "snacking chocolate" they sell at Costco, dark chocolate with pumpkin seeds. I measure out a portion of that (USING A SCALE AND PUTTING THE BAG AWAY ONCE I MEASURE, that's the important part haha) and eat it very slowly and let it melt in my mouth and really enjoy every bite. At least with the pumpkin seeds in there I'm getting a little bit of nutrition, vs eating a bag of Chips Ahoy LOL. 3. Keep busy. I get those nights where I CANNOT STOP EATING and NOTHING SATISFIES ME and they are the worst. On those nights honestly I try not to give into them at all because once I start I can't stop. I make a mug of tea, then I turn on a videogame so that my mind and hands are both busy. Hard to go down to the pantry repeatedly if I'm playing an online coop game I can't pause. Other people do stuff like knitting or puzzles. Anything that occupies your mind and hands and makes it harder to eat. Or you can just straight up leave the house and go somewhere food isn't accessible. 4. Don't have food in the house that you know you'll abuse. Honestly period cravings are bad, but they've never been bad enough that I've actively left the house to satisfy them. If there's ice cream in the freezer you better believe I'll eat it, but no I will not be driving my bloated self to Dairy Queen for a blizzard, iykwim.

I had to learn new healthier ways of processing my emotions that didn't involve food, basically. Swimming daily helps me with my day-to-day stress level, but then after that there's taking a hot bath with a lush bath bomb when I need to "treat myself" (they're expensive and luxurious, so I get the sense that I'm doing something totally unnecessary for myself), or watching my favourite comfort movies, whether that means distracting myself with a rom com or watching Moulin Rouge because I just need to have a good long cry to feel better. Journalling helps me process things, rather than just ignoring them or trying to soothe them with food and treats. As for the "on the go" bad eating, that comes down to planning. I bring a lunch box with me and have snacks in my car and purse so I'm not caught at three oclock at the mall hungry and with ~no choice~ but to eat a delicious buttered pretzel LOL. Sometimes I hate myself for that haha, but it does help. Good for you for figuring this stuff out pre-surgery. It really really helps to be prepared. Especially having an emotional toolbox of ways to cope without food, because that post surgery period can be really emotional and turning to food to fix it either sabotages your progress or makes you sick and resentful. I second the suggestion above to see a therapist/counsellor if you can afford one. I also took an emotional eating class put on by my primary care network, which taught me all kinds of strategies for managing emotional eating.