teacupnosaucer

I'm glad you said that about mimosas tbh! I'm definitely never going back to pop because I know it's leading down a dark dark path for me LOL, but I was very sad thinking I couldn't have a Magners on a hot summer day!

I second the question about acid reducers. I'm on pantaloc twice daily and if I miss a dose I feel like I am FAMISHED. lying awake at night wanting to eat, which is something I didn't even do when I was fat! if you're already tracking your food (good for you on that one btw!), then maybe now is the time to start paying attention to your protein intake as well. your nut may have told you not to worry about it, but protein is essential for healing and it keeps you full longer too. also, when you say "h20" do you mean plain water, or do you mean "diet iced tea" or "water with crystal light" etc etc? because artificial sweeteners like that are known to cause food cravings in some people. if I have sugar free drinks of any kind I ALWAYS wind up snacking afterwards, often doing that bad thing where I'm going to the pantry over and over never satisfied by what I'm taking out to eat. those three things would be my suggestions to start with. now as to the NUMBERS side of the equation... consider the fact that you are a low BMI already. our weight loss will be slower than people with more to lose. "only" down 22 pounds in two months works out to 2.75 lbs a week on average. that's REALLY not that bad of a weight loss, especially for someone with a BMI of 33. adjust your expectations a little! whenever I'm mad about the scale not moving I remind myself "when's the last time I lost 3 lbs a week for two months straight on Weight Watchers (my pre-surgery diet of choice)" OH YEAH, NEVER. that NEVER EVER HAPPENED. I think the dazzling successes we see with weight loss surgery can make us a little greedy and 'NOW NOW NOW' rather than remembering what things were like before and how much better we're doing now than we ever did then. compare yourself to yourself and leave everyone else's numbers out of it. also, since you're three weeks out, I will remind you that "the 3 week stall" is infamous for a reason. don't let it psyche you out or get you down. plateaus are a natural, healthy part of the process. just keep on chugging, and one day the scale will move.

Sounds like you've got a good handle on your diet. The other piece of maintenance (and long term health in general for EVERYBODY) is some manner of consistent exercise/activity, whether you're "an exercise person" or not, it's something you just have to do for health. One way I think of it (I'm not an exerciser either LOL), is how would it look if I said "I'm not a tooth brushing person" the same way I say I'm not an "exercise person"? Doesn't mean you have to start some gruelling gym routine you hate with a trainer who treats you like crap or a bunch of competitive gym bunnies around making you feel like ****. You're so much smaller and healthier now just from the weight loss, I think you'll be surprised at the fact that exercise isn't nearly as much of a chore as it once was... especially if you get creative about where you get it from. It can be going for a run, or it can be aquafit, or it can be taking a dance class or joining a soccer team or doing kickboxing to get some aggression out. Anything to get you moving and your heart pumping. The right activity and the right friends can help you make it work. Sorry if that's the opposite of what you want to hear LOL, since you kind of pre-empted it at the end of your post, but it's the truth. There comes a point where you can't improve on your diet anymore and it's time to expand beyond it for your healthy changes.

I guess the grass truly is greener, huh? You get the people having major regrets and misery because their recovery has been so hard on them... and then the people for whom recovery is going TOO easy! Don't psyche yourself out! I'm like you, now that I'm on solids I do feel restriction but it's not nearly so uncomfortable, painful, or difficult to deal with as it is for some people. I basically have no limits on what I can eat, only what amount. I have to consciously make good choices. I can't depend on my body to "punish" me. And you know what? I've made peace with that. I'm still losing weight, and I'm keeping up with my good habits, and learning how to CHOOSE to eat well. With this freedom comes responsibility yes, but that's okay. I can handle this! You can too! Just because every mouthful isn't abject suffering doesn't mean the surgery isn't going to work. All of us have to MAKE it work. Yes, even the people for whom restriction is more severe or who have dumping syndrome and food intolerances etc etc. They still have to make it work by doing their part. Severe restriction and dumping syndrome often don't last forever, and people who depend on them alone to lose weight are missing out on the time to learn new habits those of us without that safety net have to learn from the beginning. So take this opportunity to really wrap your head around the fact that this is all on you, but you can rise to the challenge and succeed. Don't be scared, just be realistic.

You made a permanent irreversible change, which likely included a fair bit of pain and struggle to make it through, and for which the rewards aren't always immediate or tangible. How could you not have some regrets? @Ray august above is right on the money. It's human to regret big decisions. Hell, I booked tickets to Disney World this winter and have regrets about that! Make a list of positive changes you have made and experienced, or journal about all the things you are looking forward to. It helps to really put effort into focusing on the good aspects of this decision sometimes.

Part of post-surgery life is adjusting to not living by your sense of hunger and full anymore. There are days I want to eat everything due to excess acid or my period or just plain old head hunger... and there are days I don't want to eat anything at all. I eat measured portions of scheduled snacks on both days. It's a weird sensation, especially after a life of very bad eating habits where I would restrict and binge, and it can feel seriously monotonous, but it's just something that needs to be done. But wait until you're on solid foods before you get worried about this. You're not settling into anything resembling a "normal" or long term eating pattern yet when you're on purees and fluids. Once you start eating dense protein and real food, things will change. There is a BIG difference between eating 2 oz of porkchop and having a cup of yogurt. Just keep tracking, following your plan, making good food choices, and hitting those protein and fluid goals. You will find your stride.

That entirely depends on the clinic you're in, etc etc etc. My experience going through Alberta Health having my surgery publicly funded is completely different from someone doing their procedure in Mexico self-pay or the person doing it in the US on their insurance. For me it was: 1. Get my doctor to refer me 2. Waitlist for six months 3. Take a bunch of diet/exercise educational classes (8 of them in total) 4. Get accepted to clinic. 5. Info session for the clinic. 6. More diet and surgery basics educational classes 7. Meet with my nurse, who did my history and scheduled me to see specialists in the clinic. 8. See a dietician. 9. See a psychologist. 10. See the psychologist again. 11. Meet the surgeon and sign for surgery. 12. Do a more intense surgery education class. (my third time learning about the surgeries) 13. Visit dietician about pre-op diet. 14. Get a scope and GI in preparation of surgery 15. See an internist re: stuff in my medical history 16. See pre-admission clinic at hospital 17. Wait for surgery date. 18. Liquid diet. 19. Surgery

aw thank you! you're making me blush

don't be nervous! the vast majority of healthcare staff will do an excellent job taking good care of you. instead of worrying, just take it in as a chance to be proactive and make a plan now that if there's something unacceptable about your care, you have a right to speak up!

I filed a formal complaint, don't worry. The charge nurse was into see me within an hour of me making my complaint, and gave me her card as well. DEFINITELY important to follow up on stuff like this for the sake of other patients, I agree!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who wants to lose weight but keep my boobs LOL. My mom is big-chested and is always talking about wanting to be an A or B cup but dammit I like my proportions!

I hope you're able to get your protein up! It fills me with a great sense of satisfaction to hit my goals LOL.

At 7 weeks in our program we are at the point of "try everything and see how it goes". Some people have a hard time with lettuce, others don't. You won't know until you try. If you're really worried, just make sure any new foods you try you are at home and close to a bathroom just in case. If you use "MyFitnessPal" they have a recipe function that allows you to input ingredients and number of servings to help you track what the recipes are for calories and other nutrients. Lots of recipe sites also post their own nutritional info you can refer to as well. Or you could look into buying a bariatric cookbook for yourself, which would give you lots of post-surgery ideas. I hear this one is great! https://www.amazon.ca/Weight-Loss-Surgery-Cookbook-Dummies/dp/0470640189

I'm hardly perfect with my protein, but my general rules for myself are: 1. other than veg to keep me from getting constipated I try not to put anything in my mouth in these early stages that doesn't have at least SOME protein. the more protein-less food I eat, the less room I have for the protein. I also follow the "protein first" rule at meals. I try to look at labels BEFORE I eat because sometimes I eat something thinking it'll definitely pack a punch of protein and it turns out to be not that great. 2. I added unflavoured protein powder to my yogurt and pudding snacks. Not super yummy, but it does help get those numbers up. 3. Instead of water, I made a point of drinking at least one cup of high protein skim milk a day. (Fairlife makes one in the US, here in Canada we have Natrel Lactose Free). 4. Supplement with protein shakes or protein drinks (like Nectar or Protein Water brands). My clinic doesn't want us depending on protein shakes for our nutrition, but in the early stages they're indispensable for getting the protein in. 5. Breakfast smoothies with protein powder, yogurt, AND milk. Starting my day off with one of those (sipped slowly throughout the morning and counted as both breakfast and my morning snack) really sets me up for success for the day. I did chocolate protein powder with plain yogurt and frozen cherries or strawberries or peanut butter, or vanilla protein powder with plain yogurt and whatever frozen fruit sounded good.

I want to make my own protein ice cream and frozen yogurt. after all I got an ice cream maker as a wedding gift almost ten years ago that I NEVER EVER USED lmao. maybe I could finally change that!

there is a proven hormonal component to weight loss. I'm no doctor but from my understanding fat cells store estrogen, and then release that estrogen as you lose fat. (pls someone correct me on this if I'm misrepresenting what happens!) people say that post surgery weight loss can hormonally be a little bit like weeks long PMS as your hormones fluctuate. there's also an uptick in depression and suicide after surgery. of course that may not describe you if it's just weepiness and not darker feelings/thoughts, but it's something watch out for and ask for help with if it gets worse. but don't worry, what you're going through is pretty normal from everything I've read.

Thank you for starting this thread and to the women sharing their pics! I was just thinking about this very question! I started out with 38G breasts and they are already getting pretty floppy (but then they've NEVER been perky, not even when I was a D cup as a teenager). I don't want a reduction because I like my proportions, but getting an augmentation scares me because having anything foreign in my body gives me the heebie jeebies. Having a drain in after my surgery had me clawing up and down the walls with anxiety! I always see women who get a reduction + lift or augmentation + lift so I really appreciate hearing the experiences and seeing pictures from women who are doing "just" the lift.

oh thank you for saying this! I seem to only ever hear of people doing lifts AND implants or lifts AND reductions. just a lift would be what I'd want for myself. gonna wait until I'm well into maintenance before I consider doing it though.

Looks great! Did you get an augmentation, or just a lift? I have a feeling I'm going to want to get my boobs done too.

I agree! comparing ourselves to other people really isn't productive or helpful. not only is it discouraging, but sometimes it leads to self-sabotage, which is really really sad, because these are people who are actually successful by any other metric derailing that success because it's not "enough".

I had a night nurse on my first night post-op who refused to give me pain meds all night because my pain "wasn't that bad" and that I "can't expect to be pain free after having THAT surgery". Unluckily for her, even though that night I was too in pain and tired to do anything about her, the next day my RN mom was there and knew exactly how and to whom to raise hell. She was scheduled to work the next night but someone else was there in her place (I heard the nurses talking about it at the desk). I'm of the opinion that medical staff need to be treated with the utmost respect and patience because they have hard jobs... but that doesn't mean you should let them treat you however they like. you have rights as a patient. and having someone there to advocate for you when you're in a compromising position can really help you get what you need.

it really is a second chance at a new life. take it by the reins and you will succeed and be SO happy.

I was frustrated at the time with all the work I had to do and waiting I had to do and hoops I had to jump through pre-op, but I feel very thankful for them now. Not saying I'm never ever gonna be frustrated by my perceived (lack of) progress but being mentally prepared for the journey has helped a lot so far. I didn't sweat my three week stall at all. I bet it helps for me to have had a five year journey of trying desperately to lose weight and working REALLY hard and only losing minimal amounts of weight even with a lot of concerted effort. Two pounds a week to me feels like a miracle!

this sounds exactly like me when I ate too fast, or a texture I wasn't ready for yet. I would get a terrible chest pain that took a moment then passed. never nauseous or regurgitated anything, it just HURT right in the centre of my chest. here are my suggestions to you: 1. buy yourself a smaller set of silverware and a small plate to help you adjust to eating small bites. I've heard the size of your pinky finger tip. sometimes you just have to trick your brain with an optical illusion to help you relearn what size bites are really right for your stomach. 2. use a timer to time your chewing. Baritastic is an app that has a "chew chew chew" timer built right into it. use the timer and make sure you are chewing that entire time, even if the sensation starts to be kinda gross. you will eventually be able to chew a BIT more normally, but for now you really need to destroy everything that goes into your mouth. 3. PUT YOUR FORK DOWN between bites. do not chew, swallow, put more in the your mouth, because you'll think you're taking your time but you may be eating wayyyyy faster than you perceive yourself to be. (this is especially true of moms or teachers or nurses or anyone who has had a lifetime of needing to eat fast and get onto the next thing ASAP... those habits die hard lol!) take a bite, put your fork down, chew, swallow, sit and breathe... then take another bite. If you are chewing slowly and small bites and still getting that sensation, take a break from the food that causes that sensation and try something else. the first time i got it was from some mashed potatoes. I stopped eating them, had something else, and didn't try them again for another couple weeks (since they're not that great of a food for you anyway). for something like eggs that fits well into your post-op diet, try them the next day or two days later maybe. you can also try cooking the eggs a different way. some people can't do scrambled eggs but can do poached, etc. tuna, if you haven't yet, try mixing it with some kind of sauce, whether that be light mayo or yogurt or vinaigrette or whatever else you like. I had mine with light miracle whip.

It kills me to see people saying "I only lost thirty pounds in a month"! Like, idk about you but before this surgery it took me TWO YEARS of swimming 5 days a week and counting calories to lose even 15 lbs. And even without my various hormonal issues, when's the last time you'd hear of someone on Weight Watchers complaining they "only" lost 30 lbs in a month? It makes me so sad, because people should be happy and ecstatic at their progress and instead they're getting impatient and down on themselves and saying "well my weight loss isn't as fast as I like so I might as well just eat like crap" and sabotaging themselves. I'm happy to be losing weight at the "slow" rate I am, because my body needs all the time it can get to adjust to the changes, especially my skin. Slow and steady is just fine by me. Although I understand someone who is a much higher BMI and more disabled by their weight is probably more anxious than I am to lose because they are ready for that new quality of life and not just the numbers on the scale... but there's still the girls MY size and smaller ho have also been struck by this impatience and skewed perspective. It's sad to see people go through that. I'm glad I had such a comprehensive program with a good psychologist who helped prepare me for the ups and downs of this journey so I didn't drive myself bonkers from unrealistic expectations.